David Dean Peterson

David (Dave) Dean Peterson passed away peacefully at the age of 78 on March 13th, 2022, at 12:15 p.m. at Scallop Shell Nursing Home in Wakefield, RI, surrounded by his adoring family. He had lived with Parkinson’s disease for almost 22 years. Dave was a loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend to many. He was born on June 7th, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland, the second child of John Edward Peterson and Kathleen Delozier Peterson, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his love, Joya Maxwell; daughter, Kimberly Peterson Beauchamp (Michael) and their children, his beloved granddaughters, Lily Anya and Scarlett Aurora; sister, Deborah Peterson Phillips (d. Walter) and nephew, James Lee Phillips (Heather) and their children, Brendyn and Keyleigh; brother, George James Peterson; brother-in-law, George Jay Coffey Jr. (Linda) and nephews Gregory (Rhonda) and Clifford (Melia); sister-in-law Anita Coffey (Philip Shuler) and children Jennifer, Benjamin, and Austin; sister-in-law Gailjean Coffey Gallon (d. Bill) and their children Meaghan, Skipper, Tobias, and Myles; and many great nieces and nephews. David is also preceded in death by his beloved great niece, Kira Leigh Brown-Augdal, daughter of his niece, Jennifer Brown, and Trond Augdal. Dave grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic in 1961. He was offered several academic scholarships to colleges around the country, and he landed on Duke University as his top choice. He completed his studies in three years with a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Theology, while working full time, playing lacrosse for Duke, and maintaining a 4.0 average. He graduated in 1964 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Tao Beta Pi honor societies. Dave and Joya moved to Chicago, California, and North Carolina after his graduation. In 1973, they moved to Rhode Island, where they made their permanent home, first in North Kingstown, and later in Narragansett. Dave worked for General Electric in lighting controls, where he helped develop the first motion-sensing lighting systems for large buildings, revolutionizing the industry and creating the foundation for modern lighting controls. At his retirement, he worked for Wattstopper in Warwick, RI. You would have never known his genius from his self-reported accomplishments; he was a team player, and it wasn’t until you spoke with his colleagues that his contributions were made evident. All these brilliant people worked on these projects, and every one of them said, “Dave is the one who brings it all together.” His talents went beyond the office and into the home, where he lovingly and painstakingly restored The Phoenix on Kentara Green in Narragansett, one night and weekend at a time. His daughter recalls him asking her to hold up sheet rock on the ceiling while he “quickly” screwed it in, telling her, “Don’t drop it for anything!!” while her arms shook and threatened to give way under its weight. Dave had a heart for community, and he was very active in political and historic projects in the town. As the president of the Narraganset Republican Town Committee, he spearheaded the effort to remove straight party ticket voting, helping ensure that voters knew their candidates before casting their ballots. He was also instrumental in getting The Towers reopened to the public. He saw this massive, beautiful historic structure sitting in disrepair and set out with the help of other historically minded townspeople to restore The Towers to their former glory. For years, he sat on committees, coordinated fundraisers, and oversaw construction as the Towers were returned to their rightful place as the crown jewel of Narragansett. In true David fashion, he declined recognition for his efforts; his reward was in the completed project. But he couldn’t stop his friends from dedicating a brick in the Towers courtyard to him that reads, “David Peterson, Look What You Started.” Dave was very involved in their church at St. Peter’s by the Sea, where he was a member of the vestry and taught Sunday school, never failing to amuse and engage the children with his fun games and vivid stories, which he illustrated. He was also an avid fisherman and a founding member of the Narragansett Surfcasters. He could be seen fishing any time of day or night along the rocks on Ocean Road or on Narrow River, as his son-in-law found out when Dave invited him to come along for a morning fishing session, which they set out for at 1:30 a.m. Dave also enjoyed playing tennis and golf. He often closed out the day on Kentara Green practicing his swing. It took a few neighbors’ broken windows to get him to switch to soft practice balls. Dave loved to travel, and he got to do a lot of it during his career and after retirement, going to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Korea, all around western Europe, and Mexico, where he met up with his brother to go fishing. He loved to tell the story of the time he and his brother were pulled over by the Federales and had their camper searched. After trading some batteries for a pass to continue down the road, his brother asked the men if he could take their picture. They quickly agreed, at which point his brother pointed to one of them and said, “Not you. Get out. You’re too ugly.” The rest of the men cracked up, while Dave was sure they’d be killed. But he made it and returned for more backroad Mexico adventures. He also traveled extensively in the US, making near yearly treks with Joya and Kim to Montana to go fishing and taking several trips with his brother-in-law, Jay (who actually introduced Dave to Joya when they were all teenagers). Later, he made the trip cross country with Kim to visit schools and then to drive her back for summer break when she was attending school in Seattle. They had some of the best times of their lives together on those trips—watching the OJ Simpson chase from their motel room, seeing a mama moose with her three babies while fly fishing on Rock Creek (his favorite place on earth), cooking over a propane camp stove, sleeping on the (hard) forest floor, and talking about what’s most important in life. It was on one of those trips he drilled into Kim’s head the importance of the 4 Ls: live, love, learn, and leave a legacy. Dave was gentle, generous to a fault, and deeply loving. It really clicked for Kim just how much her father would do for her during one of their fishing trips in Montana. Her dog, Anya, lost her footing and was swept away by the river, and Kim screamed for her dad. He was in the middle of the river at the time. He literally dropped everything he was holding—all his fishing gear—and started running in her direction as fast as his feet and the swift river would let him, not even knowing what was wrong, just that his daughter was in distress. Anya washed up unharmed downstream a way, but Kim never forgot that feeling of being totally and completely loved and cared for. Other random fun facts about Dave include: He was terrifying to boys who tried to date his daughter. He loved a good party—especially if it involved timing shots with his new stopwatch. He liked to compete for everything: how many ping pong shots we could make, how many gunpowder spots we could hit with a hammer in one try, how close we could count to a minute, how many strokes to make the putt, you name it. He was FUN. He had the messiest truck known to man. He loved his family more than life. He never complained. It just wasn’t in his nature. He worried for and was very protective of his granddaughters, to the point where he would scold Kim for braking too hard for the baby. He had a wonderful sense of humor, right up to the end. He listened way more than he spoke. He never spoke ill of anyone. Ever. The hole he left with his departure from this earthly plane will never be filled. He is loved eternally. Visitation is at Avery Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia St., Wakefield on March 24th from 4-6 p.m. Celebration of life is at The Towers in Narragansett on March 25th from 4-7 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to the Friends of the Historic Narragansett Towers or Narragansett Surfcasters.