Barry Leon Peterson

Barry Leon Peterson, 84, of Vancouver, WA, passed away Nov. 18, 2018. He was born May 23, 1934 in St. Paul, MN, the only child of Ulmont and Elsie Peterson. After graduating from Johnson High School in 1952, he attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a degree in biology. Barry married Laurel Kathleen Western in 1957 just prior to being drafted into the Army where he served for 2 years. He then took a job with US Fish & Wildlife Service. Barry later worked for the Federal Highway Administration in Washington DC for several years before being transferred to the Portland, OR office in 1973, where he and his family lived in Beaverton. He later transferred to the Bonneville Power Administration and retired in 1987. After retiring, he went to work in Tallahassee, FL as a manager with the Florida Department of Transportation. After retiring from the state of Florida, Barry and Laurel moved to Brush Prairie, WA to be close to their children and grandchildren in 2003. Barry's great loves were travel, especially cruising which he and his wife Laurel spent much time doing, traveling around the world visiting countries on every continent. Genealogy was his favorite pastime. Researching his Swedish roots for his and Laurels families as well as for others with Scandinavian backgrounds. He belonged to Swedish Roots of Oregon, Nordic Northwest and the Swedish Council of America. There he made many friends and celebrated the Scandinavian holidays with them. As a member of SCA he traveled around the country to meetings and served as President for two years. He was also very active in his church, St. Andrew Lutheran in Vancouver and served on the church council. Barry met Darlene Thom in 2009 at an Alzheimer's support group and became lasting friends. Following the death of Darlene's husband in 2011 and Barry's wife Laurel in 2015, Barry and Darlene married in March of 2016. Barry is survived by his wife, Darlene; three sons, Karl (Ann) of Vancouver, WA, Rolf of Aloha, OR and Anders (Lisa) of Vancouver, WA; grandsons, Cole (Alisha), Tyler (Claire), Anders Jr. (Jenny) and Eric (Makala); and great-grandchildren, Anders III, Eden and Emma. There will be a Celebration of Barry's life on Sat., Dec. 15th, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 5607 Gher Rd. in Vancouver. Donations can be made in his memory to HOPE A DEMENTIA SUPPORT GROUP (Hopedementiasupport.org) or to the Winter Hospitality Overflow at St. Andrew Church.

Barry Leon Peterson

May 23, 1934 - November 18, 2018