Born in Portland, Oregon on April 29, 1927, Dick was the only son of immigrant parents from Denmark and Sweden John and Edith Petterson. He traveled with his mother to Denmark to visit family in 1934 on Swedish American Lines. He graduated from Jefferson High School in Portland and received a 4 year athletic scholarship to Oregon State College-now Oregon State University. At OSC he was a collegiate track star running the mile and broke a record running in his freshman year with a time of 4:19.9. During summer breaks from college, Dick worked for the forest service near Crater Lake. He recounted the story of purchasing his first car, a Model A Coupe with a rumble seat from a coworker. He and friends spent the summer driving the logging roads with passengers in the rumble seat – after the summer he went to the Oregon beaches for a few days. There he cleaned out his car only to find sticks of dynamite and blasting caps riding around under the rumble seat with the tire iron and the jack.
Dick graduated in 1949 with a Mechanical Engineering Degree. Upon graduation, he worked for Aberdeen proving grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland and then at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona testing military vehicles. In 1952, Dick started working as a Test Engineer on military vehicles for Pacific Car & Foundry in Renton. He traveled to military bases in Alaska, North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arizona to resolve engineering problems with tanks and other military support vehicles. He retired from Pac Car after 34 years in 1986.
He met and married the love of his life, Dolores Cugini, then a secretary at Pac Car. Dick and Dolores were married May 1, 1954 and have spent nearly 61 years happily married.
Dick and Dolores loved the outdoors. He taught his 3 children and 4 grandchildren how to hunt, fish, and enjoy the bounties of the Pacific NW. Weekends were for family camping trips with their travel trailer. They explored lakes and parks across the Northwest and Canada. Dick was a loving husband, wonderful father and great friend to many. Always a quiet, patient man, full of good humor and great cheer. His favorite saying when friends would depart was “Keep Smiling”.
His favorite car was his Silver Lincoln Zepher. An Engineer by training and deep to the core, he taught his sons and daughter how to rebuild car engines and take care of their cars. He loved to build and repair things in his garage. Busy at his work bench he drew up plans and created many things for his wife’s garden and children.
After Dick retired he and Dolores took several memorable cruises to the Caribbean, South America and Australia-New Zealand and Alaska. They enjoyed these trips with family and friends. Their favorite trip was through the Panama Canal and Dick bought Dolores a special gift in the San Blas islands.
Dick suffered from Dementia in his last years and received the best of care at home from his loving wife Dolores, sons Rick and wife Brenda, son Jerry and wife Beverly. For the last 3 years Dick bantered with his two outstanding caregivers Leanne and Sharon, who were always ready with a smile and gentle touch for Dick.
Dick is survived by his loving wife, Dolores; his sons Jerry Petterson(Beverly), Rick Petterson (Brenda); daughter Cindy McGaffey (William); grandchildren Michael Petterson, Tino Petterson, Sandee Petterson, Christine Senger and great-grandson Jordan and many friends.
In Lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Dick's memory to the Alzheimer’s Association or the American Heart Association
A private graveside service will be held for the immediate family on Sunday, March 22rd
at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery.
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