January 25, 1923 – January 21, 2022
“Now hear this!”
The Tillamook community lost a true pioneer and one of the county’s great pillars of leadership in his generation.
Roy Peterson was born in Pendleton, Oregon and passed away peacefully at his home in Tillamook, January 21, 2022 – just four days shy of his 99th birthday.
Roy spent time in his youth during the Great Depression in the Portland area and as a teenager was a farmhand for the Tharp family where he helped milk cows, tend horses, and pumped water day and night because there was no plumbing on the farm.
In his late teens, Roy got a job fishing in Astoria, driving a team of horses to do so. The horses stayed in a floating barn on the Columbia River and at the end of the summer job, Roy left with $300 – pretty good by 1939 standards.
Roy graduated from Battleground High School in 1941 and enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman, Wash. after receiving an agricultural scholarship from Sears-Roebuck. During his senior year in high school, he worked in a poultry plant in Battleground and initially studied Poultry Husbandry at Washington State.
While on the train to Pullman, it stopped about 20 miles out of town and a few men got onboard looking for anybody headed to Washington State. Most were continuing to Moscow over the border at the University of Idaho. When they learned Roy was bound for Pullman, they revealed themselves as members of Phi Sigma Kappa, inviting new students to stay at their fraternity house for free meals and a place to stay for a couple days as Roy got acclimated – and undoubtedly would have loved him to pledge afterward.
One of the members of the fraternity was a man named Dean Lindley and became a fast friend of Roy’s. He invited Roy to a dance at the Kappa House, where he planned to introduce Roy to his sister Claire Lindley.
After meeting Claire, the two shared their very first date over a Coke at the Cougar Cottage and began to go steady. They would see each other at church and on weekends. On Sunday, Dec. 7 in 1941, Roy and Claire left church to learn about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their first question was, what – and where – is that? Things changed after that. The Army offered to pay for a select group of men to change their course of study to veterinary medicine, so Roy joined his future brother-in-law Dean and two others. They joined the Army, but stayed on campus in Pullman to finish their studies.
Roy and Claire were married Dec. 31, 1944 at her parents’ home in Colfax, Wash. and spent their honeymoon night across the border in Moscow, Idaho. When the newlyweds returned to Pullman, they moved into a place together and finished their degrees at Washington State.
After graduation, an opportunity with veterinarian Dr. Andy Lloyd testing dairy cattle for brucellosis brought Roy and Claire to Tillamook. A year or so after arriving, a classmate of Roy’s offered him a partnership at his veterinary clinic in Spokane, Wash. and the Petersons chose to stay in Tillamook, and the community was better for it.
Roy and Claire became entrenched in the county and led very social and fulfilling lives. They were not born in the area, but made this place their home, raising their three children and eventually becoming friends and mentors to others who would move to Tillamook County, touching countless lives along the way. Roy was always quick to lend a hand, provide people an opportunity, or donate his time or money. His generosity was well-known.
The Petersons were host family to Annick, an American Field Service Student from France, 1966-67, and have kept in contact over the decades. They also hosted nine different young people from Japan through the YMCA’s English study tour from 1970-75 and in 1981.
Roy loved the bounty of the Oregon Coast, taking great pride in his role as not only a veterinarian, but also a dairy farmer and member-owner of the Tillamook County Creamery Association. Whenever he traveled or meet new people, he was quick to share a loaf (or several) of Tillamook cheese.
Roy served Tillamook County well as a veterinarian, focusing primarily on larger animals, but always making time for pets. For 40 years, Roy was the track vet for the Tillamook County Fair. While balancing life as a veterinarian, Roy and Claire still found time to travel. For many years, Roy was an elected officer of the American Veterinary Medical Association and he and Claire would visit many states under his jurisdiction annually. The Petersons also traveled internationally, visiting many countries around Europe – including Russia and much of Scandinavia – Roy was a proud Dane, after all. To know Roy was to also know his unlimited and unmatched charisma. During a flight to Japan with their dear friends Virgil and Orella Chadwick in 1980, Roy wanted to show off one of his favorite skills. As flight attendants and other passengers watched, Roy Peterson stood on his head somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. They were on their way to watch a football game between Oregon State University and UCLA.
After several decades of service, Roy retired in the early 90s. Retirement was a very busy time for Roy and the Petersons as he could still be found every morning at the dairy he co-owned with Claire, his son, and daughter-in-law.
Even deep into their 90s, Roy and Claire maintained a very good sense of humor. Roy loved reading the funnies with Claire and it was always a treat for a comic strip of “Pickles” to induce hysterical laughing and wheezing from him.
Some of Roy’s many civic engagements and accolades include: 2005 Pioneer of the Year, 1977 June Dairy Parade Grand Marshal, Kiwanis International Tillamook Club Vice President, Tillamook County Shrine Club President, Tillamook County General Hospital Board, Tillamook County Easter Seals Society, Tillamook County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Chairman, Marie Mills Center Board Member, Tillamook Mounted Sheriff’s Posse Captain, Tillamook YMCA, Oregon Farm Bureau, Masonic Lodge, Al Kader Shrine, Scottish Rite, BPOE, Tillamook Antique Car Club, and Methodist Men.
He is a past president of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association and represented Oregon for four years as the alternate delegate and four years as the delegate in the American Veterinary Medical Association House of Delegates.
Roy Peterson was larger than life and one of the greats. He will forever be loved and missed by his family, friends, and all those lucky enough to have spent time with him.
A memorial service for Roy will be held Sunday, March 13.