Richard Peters
September 05, 2007
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Service Details
Richard E. Peters entered peacefully into the presence of the Lord Wednesday, September 5, 2007. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 29, 1927 to Edwin and Anna Peters. He served in the Army with the U.S. occupation forces following WW2. He met and married Roberta (Johnston), 59 years ago, while attending Grand View College. Dick received a BSE from Drake University. In 1954 he began his lifelong career in education at Altoona High School. In 1962 he began teaching in Des Moines. In 1970, after earning a Master's degree in Administration from NE Missouri State University, he helped to found and became the Director of the Fredrick Douglass Learning Center, a pioneer DM alternative middle school. Dick retired as Vice Principal of May Goodrell Middle School. In addition to his professional career Dick was passionately committed to volunteering. He was president of the Des Moines PTA Council; an emeritus member of Phi Delta Kappa, serving as the local chapter’s president; he was president/secretary of the School Masters bowling league; he was Resident Council president at Valley View Village; he was a long time scout master for Troop 9 and received the Silver Beaver award. Dick attended Bible Study Fellowship and was a discussion leader for the past two years. As a longtime member of Union Park United Methodist Church he served in many capacities, including chairperson of trustees and the endowment fund. Dick and Roberta traveled extensively with the Volunteer in Mission program of the United Methodist Church. Their most recent VIM trip was to Nigeria in June. Dick lived a full, active and fruitful life.
He will be missed by those who survive; his wife, Roberta, his brother Donald (Marlene) of Naples, FL, his children, Stephen (Patti), Gary (Colleen) of Rochester Hills, MI, Lynnette (Kevin) Moore, and grandchildren, Joanna; Alexander and Elizabeth; Erik, Ellen, Monika, Jeffrey and Kiersten Moore.
Two memorial services are planned to celebrate Richard's life; Friday, September, 14, 2:00 PM at Valley View Village, 2571 Guthrie Ave. and Saturday, September 15, 10:30 AM at Union Park United Methodist Church, 2305 E 12th at Guthrie.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his honor to Union Park United Methodist church.
Bard and Dianne Giltner
09/11/2007
Roberta,
We would like to extend our sincere sympathy to you and your family.
We are grateful that for the time we spent with you in the Northwest Parks.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Take care.
Thinking of you with our condolences,
Bard and Dianne
Brandy Miller
09/11/2007
So sorry for your loss. Mr. Peters was a wonderful, wonderful guy. He was my Vice Principal when I attended May Goodrell Junior High School.
Jerry Lemons
09/11/2007
My heart felt condolences to each of you. You know better than anyone how many lives Dick touched in a very special way and I consider myself blessed to be one of those. I have often thought of him and the influence he had on me growing up. I remember him most for always challenging me to do better and to lead and not follow. Two times come to mind,
I was struggling to meet the distance requirements for the swimming merit badge. I had made several attempts and failed. So one Saturday Dick showed up at our front door and took me over to Birdland Pool. It was just the two of us. With encouragement as only he could do he set the goal and then with his no nonsense "lets get this done" approach I was off. After several lapse he got "tuff" pushing me on when I wanted to quit. It was only after I had finished that he told me how he had set the lapses higher than what was needed, making me swim farther than was required. Not only could I swim the distance, but I had gone farther than I ever imagined I could.
Another time when the scouts where at Camp Mitigwa for a winter weekend retreat we had visitors from another scout troop stop by the cabin. As they passed through the cabin the scouts, totally out of character, acted out in a very disrespectful way. I knew better and set quietly off to the side not having any part in this behavior. After they left Dick was furious and he let loose as only he could. He dressed the entire group down and then started down the line on each individual. Knowing that I was innocent I set, as comfortable as anyone could considering the circumstances, on my bunk, until he got to me. I started to explain that I was not apart of this and no more than got the first few words out of mouth when he let me have it with both barrels. "Not good enough! You are suppose to be a leader and when you see something wrong stand up for what is right!" He went on for what seemed like a life time as he recount pre-WW II Germany and much more. When he was done I felt about two inches tall and the cabin was dead calm, without so much as a whisper. I probably learned more citizenship and the importance of good leadership in those few minutes than I did in all of the civic classes I ever took.
Dick will always remain one of my "most unforgettable characters" and I will always cherish those years and the influence Dick had on my life.