The Reverend John R. Peterson

The Rev. John R. Peterson, 88, of Tampa, FL, passed away peacefully on January 10, 2025, surrounded by loving family. He was born on September 2, 1936, in Detroit, Michigan, to John R. (Ray) and Marjorie Peterson. He will be remembered as a caring husband to Kay, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and as a dedicated servant of the church and community. He was known for his compassion, leadership, commitment to evangelism, and efforts to engage both local and national causes.

The Rev. John R. Peterson served at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Lansing, Michigan, as Deacon and Assistant Rector from 1962 to 1965, St. Mark's Episcopal in Barrington Hills, Illinois, as the 3rd Rector from 1965 to 1979, and St. John’s Episcopal in Tampa Florida, as the 14th Rector from 1979 to 2000.

Father Peterson was born in Detroit Michigan on September 2, 1936. In high school, Fr. Peterson worked as an announcer for his high school radio staff. After two years at Ferris State College, he transferred to Michigan State University, where he was president of his fraternity, Psi Upsilon.

John and Kay became engaged at Christmastime in 1958, after John had scraped funds together from Christmas gifts and savings to purchase the engagement ring. They married in Flint, MI, on August 22, 1959.

After graduating from Michigan State University, Father Peterson attended Virginia Theological Seminary from 1959-1962. While attending seminary, he honed his leadership skills as a director of the evening division at the Strayer Junior College of Business in Washington D.C. After graduation, Fr. Peterson served as a Deacon at St. Paul's Episcopal in Lansing, Michigan and was ordained to the ministry on February 28, 1963. While at St. Paul's, Fr. Peterson was a delegate to the Anglican Congress in Toronto leading the workshop for the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer; served as the Diocesan Representative of the Michigan Council of Churches on education and youth ministry; and was Secretary of the Capital Convention for the Greater Lansing area devoting most of his time to youth work. After serving faithfully at St. Paul's as an assistant to the Rector, Fr. Peterson became the third Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Barrington Hills, Illinois on January 31, 1965, where he served for almost 15 years.

While Fr. Peterson was at St Mark's, the church thrived, seeing tremendous growth in the number of Parish families, quadrupling the Church budget, and delivering on a major expansion of the Church School wing, as well as the addition of a pipe organ. St. Mark's Day School was started under Fr. Peterson's direction in 1966, achieving local and regional recognition under his leadership. Fr. Peterson also brought a "Town Hall" series to St. Mark's and Barrington Hills, which attracted notable personalities, including NASA Astronauts and Lunar Explorers Tom Stafford (Apollo 10) and Charles Duke (Apollo 16), author Alex Haley, a civil rights activist and author of Roots, as well as Tish Baldridge and Maria Von Trapp of the "Sound of Music" fame.

While at St. Mark's, Fr. Peterson was one of the founders of the Episcopalians and Others for Responsible Social Action (EORSA), which sought start-up funds for minority business enterprises. Under EORSA, Fr. Peterson served on the White House Committee under Dr. Robert J. Brown, Richard Nixon's first African American appointment to his Cabinet. Fr. Peterson also served on the board of the Christian Action Ministry (CAM), a group brought together to heal the turmoil and anger caused by the riots during the Chicago Democratic National Convention. Under CAM, Fr. Peterson brought Dr. Brown, special assistant to President Nixon, to Chicago as a keynote speaker to help facilitate the healing process amongst the community as well as worked with Dr. Brown to successfully secure several federal grants for Chicago minority business enterprises and inner-city Chicago educational programs.

Fr. Peterson was also elected the Field Education Supervisor for the Diocese of Chicago working with the four Chicago area Seminaries run by the Episcopal and Methodist Churches as well as the Evangelical Free Church. Fr. Peterson advocated for gender equality, faithfully advocating for the approval of one of the first women, The Rev. Jan Lee Walker, to be ordained in the Diocese of Chicago. He supported many women seminary candidates after the family’s beloved friend Jan. He performed Invocations for Illinois Governor Thompson and President Ronald Reagan.

Fr. Peterson, his wife Kay, and four sons, Dan, Mark, Drew, and Lee were called to St. John's Episcopal Church in Tampa, FL, in the Fall of 1979 where Fr. Peterson served devotedly until his retirement in the Winter of 2000. Under his leadership, St. John's grew to the 17th largest Anglican Parish in the United States totaling more than 2100 members. During his tenure, Fr. Peterson was appointed to several City and County Commissions under Councilwoman Jan Platt and Mayor Dick Greco including the Children Services board. He was also asked to work with the Tampa Chamber of Commerce on multiple committees including the special session with Tom Brokaw in 1994.

Fr. Peterson infused a sense of purpose in the Parish with more than 50 active ministries including programs that interfaced with the heart of inner-city Tampa like Metropolitan Ministries, Corner Stone Kids, Habitat for Humanity, and the United Way as well as others as far away as the Dominican Republic. St. John's, under Fr. Peterson, was one of the founders of the Hyde Park 7, a group of seven of the Churches in Hyde Park in South Tampa that provided food and clothing to the inner-city and needy. At the Church and Diocesan level, Fr. Peterson served on the Board of Directors of Berkeley Preparatory School Tampa, the Evangelism Commission responsible for community engagement and outreach, and the Commission on Ministry responsible for screening and selecting of candidates for Ordination. St John's Episcopal Day School also benefited from his leadership winning city, state, and national recognition for its academic excellence with Fr. Peterson serving on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Episcopal Schools. He provided a dedicated stewardship of St. John’s excellent music ministry with three choirs, including the celebrated Choir of Men and Boys, which was widely respected and took many tours overseas. In his over 20 years at St. John's, he performed close to 700 baptisms, married over 250 couples, and officiated over 200 funerals.

Fr. Peterson once said, "In my search for the meaning of being a Christian, I was led to the ordained ministry. And the call to be a clergyman came to me as a quite specific command not only to be a disciple but to make disciples. Thus, much of my ministry has been devoted to what is called "evangelism" - seeking to enlist others in this adventure of discipleship. I distrust any kind of evangelism that suggests that there is only one path to discipleship, and that one simple formula can be found to mass-produce Christians." In his efforts of evangelism, he has been praised by his parishioners for the ability to identify a need and recruit the right person to address that need, to much success.

Under Fr. Peterson's 21 years at St. John’s, he shepherded multiple capital improvement campaigns that included the construction of a new chapel, a remodeling of the church, two major expansions to the pipe organ, and his last capital campaign that included the purchase/relocation of the Middle Division campus on Platt Street that is now the home to the fifth through eighth grades. Over a dozen of his assistants under his tutelage moved on to other prominent roles as Rectors, Diocesan Directors, and Bishops.

Upon retirement, Fr. Peterson was elected as Rector Emeritus of St. John's, expressing the congregation’s deep regard for his ministry and respect for how the church had prospered under his leadership. In retirement Fr. Peterson continued to serve the community by volunteering at local hospitals and charities, performing weddings (including children and grandchildren), baptizing infants including his grandchildren, and officiating over funerals. He also spent his retirement years catching up on his travels. Part of those travels included serving as Chaplain on Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines with trips to the Orient, Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Holy Land. Kay Peterson, for her part, having spent 37 years in support of Fr. Peterson during his active ministry, devoted her retirement to enjoying his company as well as actively volunteering at local charities including the Ronald McDonald House. Both Fr. Peterson and his wife spent more time with family including their four sons and daughters-in-law as well as their grandchildren. He and Kay loved to attend their grandchildren's plays, concerts, sporting events, awards ceremonies and graduations. In his last years, Fr. Peterson celebrated the 50th anniversary of his Ordination, attended and celebrated the 50th Anniversary of St. Mark's Episcopal in Barrington Hills as well as the 100th anniversary of St. John's Episcopal in Tampa, continuing to bring his 'evangelism' to the masses.

The Rev. Peterson is predeceased by his parents John and Marjorie Peterson, survived by his wife of sixty-five years, Kay Peterson (nee Slappey), his sons Dan (Teresa), Mark (Wendy), Drew (Barbara), Lee (Mary Beth) and his cherished grandchildren Brianna, Brad, Lindsay, Tyler, Garrett, Emory, Kristin and Tyler. He is also survived by his brother, Tom (Kathy), sisters, Judy (Dick) Grove, Betsy (Ken) Olson, Carol Jobak, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins who will deeply miss him.

A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Tampa, at a future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. John’s Episcopal Church Memorial Fund or to Metropolitan Ministries (in memory of The Rev. John Peterson).