Corey Peterson

Corey was born on February 20, 1969 to Brenda Lee and Dale Peterson in Detroit, Michigan, the third of their four boys. He spent his early childhood in Indiana, and his later childhood in south Florida. Corey’s best childhood memories were of time spent on his grandpa’s farm, camping and riding dirt bikes with his family, and surfing in the warm Atlantic near Miami – activities which bloomed into full-blown passions that he continued to pursue for the remainder of his life.

In his late teens and early twenties Corey worked on a maintenance crew at Joe Robbie Stadium for the Miami Dolphins. It was soon after this time that he made a big move from Miami to the East Bay Area in California to help raise his son Chaz Julian. It had been a dream of his to visit California, and he found that the country roads, mild weather, and mountains suited both him and his street bike. In 1991 Corey was working at a Chevron gas station in Antioch when he met Jill. He somehow managed to charm her when he shut off the gas pump – repeatedly – as she was trying to fill up her car. At the time, Jill already had plans to move to southern California for college, and Corey ended up making his way to Los Angeles (and Jill) after a quick detour back to Miami. In LA he found everything he liked about northern California, but amplified, along with slightly warmer surfing spots. He quickly made the southland his home.

Corey had a few odd jobs when he first moved to LA – he was actually one of those guys who sold speakers out of the back of a van in the early 1990s (he often told the story about how he tried to sell a set to Gene Simmons of Kiss – one of his first celebrity sightings in LA). He supervised a maintenance crew at IKEA in Burbank, and worked for Hostess at their retail stores. It was around this time that he decided to attend trade school to become a motorcycle mechanic, hoping to blend his passion for motorcycles with a career. One of his first jobs in the motorcycle industry was working on CHP bikes at the shop owned by Suzuki (and then Yamaha) racer Chuck Graves. He also exercised his artistic talents by teaching himself how to paint with an airbrush – he painted a number of helmets and motorcycles, and more than a few race bikes. As the years went by, he found that motorcycle maintenance didn’t bring in enough money to support his own motorcycle habit, and one day while depositing a meager paycheck, he ran into a neighbor at the bank. After Corey mentioned how little money was on that check, Niko relayed that he’d heard of some job openings at Pacific Bell. Corey applied, took the aptitude test, and landed the job. He ended up working for AT&T for over 25 years – initially “slinging dial tone”, and eventually moving over to the construction crew to take advantage of earlier hours – along the way he turned many co-workers into life-long friends.

After many years of dating, Corey and Jill were married on July 12, 1998, in West Hills. Corey’s passion for motorcycles was catching, and they had many adventures on 2 wheels – trips to Arizona, Yosemite, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, and many racing events at Laguna Seca in Monterey. One of their most memorable trips happened In 2002, when they went on a 2-week-long trip up and down California, racking up over 2,000 miles on countless beautiful roads aboard a couple of Ducati Monsters. It was heaven.

In 2005 Corey and Jill welcomed their daughter Jade. Kira followed in 2007. They were the four Musketeers, always adventuring as a young family. In between the day-to-day of raising 2 little ones, there were a lot of fantastic camping trips, whether at the beach to surf and play in the Pacific, or in the desert to explore endless hiking tails and ride OHVs. He passed the motorcycle bug onto the girls as well.

Corey was 55 years old when he passed away doing what he loved the very most – riding a motorcycle. We aren’t sure yet what happened, but suspect a medical event led to the crash, as he didn’t have any visible injuries (as usual, he was wearing full race-quality gear, top to bottom). Corey is survived by his wife Jill (White), his kids Chaz, Jade, and Kira, his mother Brenda, his father Dale, his stepmom Shawn, his brothers Darin and Danny, along with many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. He is predeceased by his beloved brother Larry, cousin Brittany, and sister Shawntiel.

A celebration of life will be held on June 10th from 10am – 1pm at Eternal Valley in Santa Clarita. We would love to hear your “Corey Stories” if you are able to attend.