~ IN MEMORY ~
WWII veteran, NEA/DL Capt. Frank Harvey Peterson
August 15, 1920 ~ December 13, 2019
Word has reached our group with the passing of retired
Northeast/Delta pilot Captain Frank Harvey ‘Pete’ Peterson, age 99. Captain Peterson joined Northeast Airlines
11-04-1942 and retired with Delta Air Lines in 1980, based Atlanta at time of
retirement. Widowed in January 2010 with
the passing of his wife Mary, Captain Peterson is survived by their children
plus their grand- and great grandchildren.
Obituary information and an online guestbook is available at
the funeral home website
Obituary may also be viewed online at
Services have been entrusted to Fox & Weeks Funeral
Directors, Hodgson Chapel (912) 352-7200.
Obituary notes that there will be services at St. James
Catholic Church in Savannah at a later date, interment on Vinalhaven Island, Maine. Mary’s obituary may be viewed below as well.
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Obituary……………. Frank Harvey ‘Pete’ Peterson was born 15
August 1920 on Vinalhaven Island, Maine, to Ambrose Ames and Cora Frances
Abbott Peterson. He lived for 99 years
and died on 13 December 2019 in Savannah, Georgia.
He was married for 67 happy years to Mary Dorothea Riley
Peterson (deceased in 2010).
Upon graduation from Vinalhaven High School in 1938 he
attended the University of Maine with a mind to be a mechanical engineer. However, Uncle Sam was looking for pilots, as
WWII was ramping up. After taking flying
lessons in college he realized how much he loved flying and changed his career
path. During the War, Pete flew many
missions in the C47 shuttling cargo and passengers to Iceland, Greenland, and
across Africa. Upon completion of the
War, he flew for Northeast Airlines flying throughout New England and then
initiating the new 727 “Yellowbirds” from Boston to Miami. Later Northeast merged with Delta and opened
routes across the U.S. and Europe. The
Peterson family moved to Lighthouse Point, FL from Beverly, MA and later to
Hilton Head, SC, as Pete’s career progressed.
In 1980 he took mandatory retirement after completing and
loving his 39 years of flying. In his
retirement, he returned every summer to his beloved Vinalhaven Island with Mary
and his trusty Shopsmith, with which he built his island home. Pete served on
the board of the Medical Center there as well as other community activities.
Pete’s faith was an integral part of who he was. He was very
involved with his Catholic Church community on Hilton Head and in Savannah
where he and Mary spent their later years.
Mary and Pete loved both of their island homes where you
could find them entertaining family and friends, boating in one of the many
crafts they had over the years, or taking advantage of free flying and trotting
around the globe! They shared many an
adventure together.
Despite his travels, Pete remained the classic New
Englander, “use it up, measure twice, cut once, a penny saved is a penny
earned.” An accomplished carpenter,
plumber and electrician, he was self-reliant and generous with his time, skills
and his love of community and family.
Often surrounded by competitive talkers, we have all learned from Pete’s
quiet example.
He leaves four children:
Jeffrey James Peterson (Teen), Susan Peterson King, David Riley Peterson
(Cynthia), and Ann Peterson Ramee (Tom); nine grandchildren, Cora Peterson,
Mary Peterson Screws, Anna Peterson, Bryan King, Stephen King, Amy King
Fontaine, Faran Peterson, Shane Ramee, Ali Ramee: and eleven great
grandchildren.
There will be a Memorial Mass at St. James Catholic Church
in Savannah at a later date and an interment on Vinalhaven Island, ME.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: St. James
Catholic Church, 8412 Whitefield Ave., Savannah, GA 31406 or Vinalhaven Medical
Center, 15 Medical Center Loop, Vinalhaven Island, ME 04863.
……………………………………………
Mary Dorothea Riley Peterson
1921-2010
Mary Dorothea Riley Peterson died peacefully in her sleep at
home with her loving husband by her side on January 17, 2010. She was 8 days
shy of her 89th Birthday.
Mary was born in Portland, ME on January 25, 1921, the only
child of James Augustine Riley. She never knew her mother, Dorothea Perrin
Riley, who died during childbirth in 1923.
After attending Westbrook College, Mary worked for a short
while for Ma Bell (i.e. the phone company), before becoming a flight attendant
for Northeast Airlines. It wasn't long before she met the love of her life, and
husband of 66 years, Frank (Pete) Peterson.
Mary would be the first one to tell you that being a flight
attendant was not for her, and after marrying Pete (her pilot) in 1943 her
"real" life began. They settled in MA; after four homes and four
children there, they moved with the airlines to south Florida in 1960. The
sunny south brought out new life styles, hobbies and sporting activities
including tennis, boating, fishing and not to mention being involved in all the
kid's activities from middle school, high school and college.
In 1973, when Delta merged with Northeast, Mary & Pete
established a home on Hilton Head Island where they lived for 34 years. In
2005, Mary and Pete moved to The Marshes in Savannah, GA.
Throughout married life the family spent summers on
Vinalhaven, a small island fishing village off the coast of Maine where Pete
was born and raised. The love she received from her husband's parents, as well
as her husband and children, was very important.
Vinalhaven became the gathering-place for the entire
family-children, their spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Mary enjoyed her family first and foremost. She had a rich
life full of travel, a wide circle of friends, a fanatic love of bridge,
crossword puzzles, reading and anything that involved family, friends, food and
laughter.
The Best twins flew for NWA for 33 years, retiring on their 60
