Ben O Peters

Whilst in the Community Hospital Emergency Room Ben was diagnosed with Intestinal Ischemia. It is a serious condition that results in pain and makes it difficult for the intestines to function normally. Severe cases can result in damage to the intestinal tissues and can result in death.

Ben was born October 17, 1927 in what is known as the Burn District (near Egnar, Colorado which is an unincorporated community in San Miguel County, Colorado and has a U.S. Post Office with a ZIP Code 81325 which has been in operation since 1917. The community’s name is “Range” spelled backward – fact from Wikipedia)

Ben was the fourth of four children born to Eugene Parkman Peters and Katherine Elizabeth (Thorman) Peters his siblings being, Edna, Eugene and Hannah, they all called him, “Little Benny”, (a name he hated)

His occupations include: soda jerk at the drug store, school teacher in a one room school, telegraph operator, supply and shipping clerk at the Holly Sugar plant in Grand Junction, Colorado, bookkeeper at C.D. Smith Drug Company, Head bank teller at U.S. Bank, hotel clerk and night auditor, District Court Clerk, Jury Commissioner and Court Administrator.

He was a lifelong member of the First Assembly of God Church where he was a Sunday school teacher and treasurer.

On June 1, 1949 he married Lila Mae Beebe (to whom he was happily married until his death)

Ben and Lila proudly raised five boys, Quentin, Gregory, Michael, Roger and Douglas.

Ben is survived by his wife Lila Mae Peters, his sister Hannah Wyman of Cortez, Colorado, four sons, Quentin and Alicia Peters, Gregory and Jean Peters all of Grand Junction, Colorado, Michael and Gisselle Peters of Las Vegas, Nevada, Roger Peters of Casper, Wyoming and his daughter-in-law Laurie Peters (wife of Douglas).

He is also survived by 6 grandchildren, Jeff, Emily, Josh, Cruz, Braedon and Mathew; 5 great-grandchildren, Cody, Lila, Alex, Ethan and Andrew; 2 great-great grandchildren, Evelyn and Hardin.

Ben is preceded in death by his brother Eugene Peters, his sister Edna Huckaby and his youngest son Douglas Peters.

Newspaper cutting for Ben’s 90th Birthday.

Monday, October 02, 2017

On October 17, 2017 Dad will be celebrating his 90th birthday. As I recall the memories that I have of my dad’s life, I am remembering back to a time when Grand Junction only had two banks, The U. S. Bank, on 4th St. & Main St. and The First National Bank on 5th St. & Main St. Sometime around 1952 1953 Dad was the head teller at The U. S. Bank when they had erected a structure on the sidewalk on 4th street beside the bank. The thing looked sort of like a telephone booth, and they called it a “snorkel”. This strange looking thing on the sidewalk was Grand Junctions first and only banking drive-up. Yep they called it a “drive-up” not a drive through. For the first time in Grand Junction people could do their banking without even leaving the comfort of their car. Dad was the first drive-up bank teller in Grand Junction. He worked in the basement of the bank, and could see the people in their car through a periscope and their deposits and business transactions would be conveyed to him by means of a mechanical contraption. It was a proud moment in Grand Junction’s history.

Mom and I were asked to do a commercial to publicize the opening of the wonderful new banking convenience. We were loaned a shiny new red convertible to drive up to the “snorkel” and demonstrate how well it worked and how convenient it was. While being filmed for the five o’clock news or a commercial or whatever, mom drove and I just stood in the seat beside her, (no seat belts in those days). Damn we were the picture of the American dream, hot new car, beautiful woman, good looking toddler, just out doing our drive-up banking. New banking customers must have just been flocking to the bank to get to be a part of that brand new banking action.

Dad later changed his career path, around 1961 dad became the clerk of the district court. In this job he had to do a lot of swearing, He was the guy who said, “Place your hand on the bible and repeat after me.” “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” His duties also included swearing in brand new United States citizens, and his signature would be forever on their naturalization certificate. (I know this because many years later, when I worked at the U. S. Postal Service, I would see it when people had to show their naturalization certificate to me to get a passport.) For many years the only way to get a U.S.

Passport in Grand Junction was to go see my dad, until the post office started accepting passport applications also. At the same time that dad was clerk of the district court he was also the jury commissioner and court administrator. As jury commissioner he would pick prospective jurors and send out jury questionnaires to establish a qualified jury pool to draw jurors from when needed for a jury trial. This involved “homework”, dad would bring home the city directory that listed all of the city residents and I and my best friend would pick out every 25th name, or any of our teachers, and these people would be sent the jury questionnaire. When the questionnaires were returned I would help open the envelopes and sort and organize the completed questionnaires.

When Ben O. Peters was the district court clerk, jury commissioner, and court administrator, it seemed to me like everyone in Grand Junction either knew my dad or knew of him. Everywhere I went, everyone that I would meet, when they heard my name would ask, “Are you Ben Peters’ son?” I was indeed his son and I was very proud, and I am still very proud to be the son of Benjamin O. Peters.