Lloyd "Pete" Peterson

Lloyd Frederick Peterson, 91, passed away June 24, 2023 surrounded by his loving family at EveryStep Kavanagh House in Des Moines, Iowa.

Lloyd, always known better as “Pete” was born in Des Moines, Iowa on November 11th, 1931, the son of Lloyd O. and Naidine (Throckmorton) Peterson. He moved a lot growing up, particularly enjoying Peoria, Il, Columbus, OH, and Chicago, IL. Always an enterprising youngster with a strong independent streak, he was never long without “a job”, often holding two or three at the same time. He graduated from Missouri Military Academy and then attended Drake University and Iowa State U. for undergrad studies in electrical engineering and accounting. He received his BA and his Masters in Economics from Drake in 1959.

Pete served in the U.S. Marine Corp., Airwing, and Reserve from 1953-1960. After attending the Marine Air Training school in Jacksonville, FL, Pete flew to Inchon, Korea where he traveled north to a base near Kimpo, close to the 38th parallel. After that, he was sent to a Marine air base in Iwakuni, Japan. Later, Pete was assigned to a special Rifle Detail where he traveled throughout Japan.

Pete married the love of his life, Marilyn Jeanne Miller, in December, 1959 after meeting her at their jobs with the Register and Tribune paper. Upon meeting her, Pete would work to finish not only his tasks for the day but also Marilyn’s as a way to gain some goodwill with her and drive greater efficiencies with the team. After smoothing some ruffled feathers, the romance was on!

He was employed at Bankers Life/Principal Financial Group from March 1, 1957 – June 5, 1994, retiring as 2nd Vice President I.S. (Information Systems) leading all aspects of System Programming, Phone Systems, and computer operation. Pete greatly enjoyed developing and mentoring his team as well as the diversity of the work – a constant and interesting challenge- even though it sometimes involved many late-night phone calls.

Pete had a life-long love of sports. He played, enjoyed, and excelled at basketball, softball, bowling, swimming, scuba diving, football, wrestling and more, winning many trophies and city/state tournaments. He was able to recite detailed stats of current and upcoming players across college and professional sports. He was an avid fan of several teams, particularly the Green Bay Packers. Pete loved music as another favored interest, especially jazz. He knew the lyrics, composers, and artists and sang along to hundreds of songs. He loved to dance and travel. He and Marilyn traveled extensively with friends as part of the Principle Financial retiree travel group.

He was a member of numerous civic and professional organizations over the years including, Boy Scouts, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, Masonic Capitol Lodge 110, DPMA and LOMA, Windsor United Methodist Church, and Lions Club.

Pete had a tremendous curiosity and zest for life. His interest in learning and reading was lifelong. While practical about important things, Pete had a droll sense of humor and consistently saw the opportunity and transience of life’s challenges. You could always hear him whistling or singing as he returned home from work each day. Pete was unfailingly a person that family sought out for steadiness, reassurance, and advice. His common sense, combined with his purposeful life philosophy, calmed nerves and instilled optimism and confidence. And of course, he always laced his sage advice with well-placed humor. He would admonish one for taking life too seriously in case one might miss the joy in the day and faithfully role-modeled the Golden Rule, believing that if you practice it in your personal and business life, you will have achieved success.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Peterson; two daughters, Julie Peterson, Urbandale, IA and Heidi (Pat) Baschnagel, Austin, TX; six grandchildren, Jon (Samantha), Michael and Connor Bredbeck, and Eric and Megan Baschnagel; sister, Barbara “Penny” (Robert) Kaiser; son-in-law, Dan Bredbeck; and numerous nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his daughter Stacy Bredbeck.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 1, 2023 at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines followed by a reception.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation or Easter Seals of Iowa. Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

The family would like to express their gratitude to all who cared for Pete so skillfully and compassionately-the home caregivers, medical and hospice staffs, and our wonderful friends and neighbors.

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