Robert "Bob" Reed Peterson

Robert “Bob” Reed Peterson suffered a heart attack and passed away on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at his home in Sandy, Utah.

Bob was born February 4, 1960 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was the second of two children born to Karen and Joseph Peterson. At first, the doctors thought Karen was pregnant with twins, but it turned out to be just one, giant, 10 pound baby. They were lucky to have gone to the right hospital, because he had to be delivered by C-section. The other hospital in town would not have been able to perform a C-section, it was a somewhat new procedure, and there would have been no way to save Bob or his mother.

Bob and his sister, Jolene, were very close. In their early years, they lived in Milltown, New Jersey. Jolene hated to empty the dishwasher, and Bob was always begging her to play games. She would finally say, “Ok, if you will empty the dishwasher, I will play with you,” successfully getting out of her chores. They would play all sorts of games. They especially enjoyed monopoly, but they liked to play with three boards all at once instead of just one.

Bob was a handful as a child. Some of his favorite trouble-making activities included: pulling all the tags off the clothes at the store while his mother shopped and then stuffing them in his pockets, walking across the train tracks to get home from school when he’d been expressly forbidden to do so, and on one memorable Sunday, yelling out, “Don’t hit me! I’ll be good!” as his mother pulled him out of the chapel for making a ruckus, much to her embarrassment.

In 6th grade, his family moved several miles away to East Brunswick, New Jersey. As a teenager, he worked summers for Rutgers University in the turf fields. He not only maintained the grass, but actually assisted one of the professors in developing a new variety of grass. He even received a small royalty check for about five years for being a part of the team that developed the new variety of grass. Bob earned his Eagle Scout rank just before turning 18. He graduated from East Brunswick High School.

After high school, Bob attended Utah State University for one year. He then served an LDS mission to the Portland, Oregon area. After his mission, he transferred to Brigham Young University where he received a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics and a master’s degree in AgriBusiness Management.

Bob met his sweetheart, Alice Pincock, just before his senior year at BYU while working part-time at the MTC cafeteria. When Alice started working at the MTC, Bob knew immediately that he wanted to ask her out, but he was shy. So he tried to do it in a roundabout way; he boasted of his video game skills. He bet Alice that he could beat her at any video game, her choice. The loser would have to buy the winner a hot fudge sundae. Little did he know, she had spent quite a bit of time mastering the game of Frogger, which she chose, and solidly whopped him. It still turned out pretty good for him, as he got the date, and eventually, the girl.

After he finished grad school, Bob and Alice moved to Santa Barbara, California where Bob worked at a local bank. They welcomed their first baby girl, Kelly, in 1989. In 1992, they moved to Utah and built a beautiful home in Sandy. Bob worked as a loan officer in Utah for First
Security, Wells Fargo, MetLife, and Bank of Utah over the next 23 years. In 1995, they brought home their second daughter Whitney and in 2002 their son Ryan.

Bob enjoyed bowling, golfing, stamp collecting, bird watching, doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and playing games with his family and friends. When he lost a game, he always blamed it on bad luck. However, when he won a game, he always claimed it was entirely due to his great skill. He also loved to cheer on his New York Mets, Utah Jazz, and anything BYU. He also seemed to believe that by yelling at the TV he could affect the outcome of the game.

Bob was recruited as an assistant for his wife’s addiction of creating miniature Christmas villages and accidentally became an addict himself. Alice recruited him to help her do the lights, and before she knew it, he was just as addicted as she was. The village just kept growing and growing because they had so much fun doing it together. Sometimes they disagreed because they had different visions of what the village should look like. In the end, though, it didn’t look like either of their initial plans but was a combined version which was always better than either of their individual ideas.

Bob loved his garden — when it cooperated. As did the birds and the slugs. He grew raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, green beans, peas, and zucchini successfully. He also tried to grow carrots, but the quail ate them all.

Bob was extremely dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He taught a gospel doctrine class for six years, and he was a family history consultant for the past 21⁄2 years. He had a great enthusiasm for doing his own genealogy and helping others to do theirs. He has contributed to the work of over 800 of his ancestors since January 2015.

Bob’s parents helped him develop a love of music. He played the saxophone and piano in high school, and continued to use his beautiful singing voice by participating in choirs, including the choir for the Draper temple dedication. The dedication was a very special experience for him and brought him great joy.

He is survived by his wife, Alice (Pincock) Peterson; daughter, Kelly (Peterson) Ambrose and her husband, Markus; daughter, Whitney (Peterson) Empey and her husband, Reid; son, Ryan Peterson; parents, Karen (Reeder) and Joseph Peterson; sister, Jolene (Peterson) Yaede and her husband, George; and many nephews, nieces, grandnephews, and grandnieces.

A viewing will be held on Friday, July 7 at 6:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday, July 8 at 9:00-10:30 a.m. with the funeral following at 11:00 a.m. Both the viewings and the funeral will be held at the LDS chapel located at 1280 E. Turquoise Way, Sandy, Utah.