Ken Peterson

Beloved son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather Russell Kenneth (Ken) Peterson, Jr., 86, passed away on May 20, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. He was the husband of Merry Ann Peterson, and they had just celebrated 62 years of marriage together.

Born on July 22, 1938, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ken was the son of Russell and Ruth Peterson. He graduated from the University of Washington in Mechanical Engineering.

As a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force, he was immediately called up to active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He spent five years in the military as an aircraft mechanic.

Only afterwards could he begin to pursue a lifetime of design and building.

Ken began working for Longview Fibre, and then designing ship steering systems for Western Gear. He then worked for 12 years for Ingersoll Rand, eventually as lead engineer on raise boring machines that drilled large underground tunnels in mines from Peru and South Africa, to the Canadian city of Sudbury.

He later created his own firm, Skandea Engineering, and for more than two decades carried out complex design projects for Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, and other companies.

With his attention to precision and sharp mathematical mind, Ken was a craftsman: He built everything from a three-story-tall machine that could sort thousands of worn drill bits – they cascaded down a cylindrical helix – to a backyard shed that he said was “built to last 100 years.” (It is now halfway there…)

He enjoyed hunting and fishing, mostly in eastern Washington, and camping and boating with his family on Lake Cushman in the Olympics.

Ken was a proud father, and served as Little League baseball coach and later Scoutmaster. He went to track and swim meets, to 4-H horse shows, and survived 50-mile hikes with the Scouts in Alaska and on Washington’s Pacific Coast. He was a stickler for good grades, and quizzed Karin incessantly for spelling bees.

His honesty, integrity and devotion to family and service shone brightly, as an example to all. Ken belonged to Kiwanis Club in Des Moines, which raised money for charity.

His face lit up with smiles, especially, every time he saw his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, children Scott Peterson and Karin Heath, and nine grandchildren: Olivia, Conrad, Guy, Elsa, Finn, Natasha, Rex, Arman, and Donya.

A celebration of Ken’s life will be held May 28, 2025, at 10am, at Cedar Lawns Memorial Park at 7200 – 180th Ave. NE, Redmond, WA. His ashes will be finally interred beside the graves of his parents at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue.