Thomas Detienne Petersen

May 22,1938 - October 2, 2019

Dr. Thomas Detienne Petersen, age 81, passed away peacefully in his favorite chair at home, in La Mesa, California. In the last days of his life, he was lovingly supported by his family.

Tom is survived by his wife, Mary Gail, sons Donald and Michael, daughters Laura Nuno and Theresa Bozhor, eight grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. He is also survived by his sisters, Ann Krause and Mary McGowan. Tom’s younger brother, Bill, died in 2002.

Tom was born May 22, 1938, in Seattle, Washington, the son of Ralph Clarence Petersen and Harriet Mae Detienne Petersen. Ralph was a medical doctor, who served in the army during World War II. Tom’s sister Ann and brother Bill were born during those war years. In 1946, the family settled in Glendale, California, the place where Tom spent his formative years. Ralph did his orthopedic residency at the L.A. County Hospital and then opened his private practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Glendale in 1950. Tom’s younger sister, Mary, was also born in 1950.

Happy in his childhood years, Tom always wanted to be a doctor like his dad. He was bandaging his teddy bears at age four. Also, Tom was very self-reliant from an early age. He had paper routes in grade school. In his early teenage years, Tom already had started saving money for his first car by doing lawn mowing and other yard work in the neighborhood. At 16, he used his own money to buy an older model Chevrolet convertible with a white top and had it painted a beautiful baby blue. Tom was quite popular at Hoover High School in Glendale. He was on the cheerleading squad and Student Body President.

In 1956, at age 18, Tom began attending Stanford University. On Christmas Day in 1956, Tom’s life changed greatly when his father, Ralph, met an untimely death at age 49 with complications from a benign brain tumor. His father’s death strengthened Tom’s determination to follow in his dad’s footsteps to become an orthopedic surgeon. He became aware that he needed to depend on himself for everything. He worked three jobs and earned a swimming scholarship to Stanford. He made All-American in swimming all four years at Stanford and set national records in the breaststroke in his senior year. That year, he considered trying out for the 1960 Olympics but wisely decided to concentrate on getting into medical school instead.

Tom was accepted in 1960 to the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri, the same medical school his dad had attended. In January 1961, while he was at the school, he met and fell in love with a beautiful nurse, Mary Gail Beerman. Interestingly, they met next door to where his parents had met many years before. Tom and Mary Gail became engaged on Valentine’s Day 1962 and married in June 1962. They spent their honeymoon camping on the beach in Kauai, making them the first people to obtain a camping permit on that island and the subject of a newspaper article titled “Interesting People” in August 1962.

Like his father and mother, Tom and Mary Gail had four children: Donald was born in 1963, Michael in 1964, Laura in 1966, and Theresa in 1973.

After Tom graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in 1964, the family moved to San Diego, where Tom completed his internship and orthopedic residency at the County Hospital (now UC San Diego Medical Center). Dr. Robert Kimball invited Tom to join Alvarado Orthopedic Medical Group in San Diego, most likely in 1968 or1969. The two doctors became pioneers by successfully performing the first total knee replacement surgery in San Diego. Tom excelled in his practice. He was loved by his patients and was voted “Top Physician” in the “Guide to Top Physicians” magazine in 2004-2005. He became a senior partner when Dr. Kimball retired. Always an innovator, Tom founded Alvarado Orthopedic Research, a company for his medical instrument inventions. He had 31 patents for his instruments, which included surgical instruments, a blade coating that vastly improved patient outcomes, and even a widely used knee holder. He used the royalties on these patents to fund an educational trust for his children and grandchildren, making education an important part of his legacy for his family.

Tom’s vision was not limited to medicine, he also took a visionary approach to property investments. He had a knack for finding properties that appreciated in value, even when no one else could see their potential. Tom was gifted in seeing potential in people, too, always encouraging people to follow their dreams. He put this vision into practice by founding Momentum Tutoring, with his daughter Theresa, a non-profit tutoring business that has helped thousands of students realize success in school over the years.

One achievement that brought Tom great satisfaction was the planning and building of his dream home in the Mt. Helix area of La Mesa. He scouted out possibilities for the location for a hilltop home with magnificent sunsets. In 1969, he bought a lot on Mt. Helix with a panoramic view. A number of years later, Tom, an architect at heart, worked with an architect to actualize his dream home designs. In January 1978, the family moved into their beautiful new home. Tom, always a gracious host, built a house that is perfect for entertaining and the focal point for family festivities to this day.

Tom served in the Army Reserve while he was finishing his medical internship and residency. He was also an enthusiastic Little League manager for his sons’ baseball team. In his earlier years, he loved to paint and signed his paintings “Tomas.” He also loved classical music, as well as Burt Bacharach, the Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, and Barbra Streisand.

Mary Gail, Tom’s wife, said that out of all Tom’s great accomplishments the one he was most proud of was his loving family. He was surrounded by their love in his last days. His family saw his death as a beautiful end to an extraordinary life, lived by an exceptional man.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 26th, at 10 a.m. at Erickson-Anderson Mortuary, 8390 Allison Ave., La Mesa, California 91942.

Tom’s Memorial Service is all about ALOHA!

Aloha is an essence of being: love, peace, compassion, and a mutual understanding of respect. Aloha means living in harmony with the people and land around you with mercy, sympathy, grace, and kindness. When greeting another person with aloha, there is mutual regard and affection.