Nate and Bethany: In Memory of Golden Virgil Peterson

My Grandpa Peterson passed away on February 15th and so we flew out to Idaho for the week. The funeral was yesterday and it was great seeing family and honoring my Grandpa.

Grandpa grew up in Idaho and was a farm boy. He is the seventh of nine children and grew up very humbly but had a good life. He has some pretty great stories from growing up that I always enjoy hearing. He got kicked out of school his junior year and never went back. He did go on to get his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree. My Grandpa was a very learned man and had so much knowledge.

He was working on farms when he was inducted into the service (Army Air Force) in 1944. He flew in a B17 when he was oversees and right in the mist of the fighting. He was a bombardier/toggelier and dropped bombs. My Grandpa got his patriarchal blessing before he left to go to war. One part said "Thou will bless him wherever he may be that his guardian angel will take charge concerning him and no evil will befall him." There was many times during the war where he should have died but was protected. One mission Grandpa was sick and could't fly and the plane received a lot of holes from flak on this particular mission. It came in through the nose cone and went through the top of the plane. If the toggelier had been in his seat (where he usually sat) it would have taken off his head. His replacement toggelier was not there at this time. He was officially discharged in 1946. It amazes me all the things he did in the war. At his funeral I learned that he didn't think of himself as a hero but just an ordinary man fighting for his country, his freedoms, and his family. In my eyes my Grandpa is a hero and my love of my country is partially because of him.

Grandpa's medals that he received for his service.

My Grandpa and Grandma courted during and after his service in the war. They met because Grandpa's brother Von was married to Grandma's sister Phyllis. Grandpa received his mission call to the Western States and left April of 1947. This mission took in all of Colorado and part of Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and New Mexico. My Grandma waited for my Grandpa and he was released from his mission in May of 1949 and they were married the 29th of June in the same year. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple for time and all eternity.

My Grandpa was a schoolteacher for quite a while and he taught all sorts of subjects and one year had a sabbatical and moved his family to Arizona where he got his Masters. He also did construction and he could build just about anything. I am very grateful for the example of my Grandpa and the life that he led. He loved his family, he loved scouting, he loved the Church, and he loved doing genealogy.

These pictures were shown at the funeral and I had to put them on here because it shows what my Grandpa was like.

I will miss these two and I am very grateful for their example. My Grandpa always had something funny to say and had the greatest sense of humor. He would always laugh at his own jokes (that is probably where I get it from). He was always a kid at heart and always had a story to share. My grandma was always so caring and loving and always supported and loved Grandpa. They have quite the posterity and were great examples to all of us and I will try and live my life so that I can see them and be with them again one day.

Friday evening was the viewing. This one was a little easier than my Grandma Peterson's viewing. The hard thing for me at my Grandma's viewing was seeing my Grandpa cry. When we got to him in the line after seeing the coffin he told me that he knew he would be with her again and now they are.

The great-grandchildren entertaining themselves during the viewing.

The funeral was very good. I enjoyed listening to stories about Grandpa in which many stories brought smiles and laughter. My Grandpa sure had a sense of humor. One thing said that made me smile that was said that now Lois's (my grandma) quiet time in heaven is now over. :)