Richard Rudolph Peters' Obituary
Richard Peters MD, 89, passed away peacefully on October 16, 2016 at the Forum Rancho San Antonio. He was born June 15, 1927 in Meriden, Connecticut to Rudolph and Shirley Peters and was raised in New Britain, Connecticut. He spent summers with his cousins on Bantam Lake where fishing occupied much of his time. He worked in his uncle Jack’s pharmacy as a soda jerk serving ice cream and milkshakes and was an active Boy Scout.Richard graduated from Harvard in 1948 during which time he served in WWII for the US Army stationed in Garessio, Italy. Following Harvard he graduated from Tufts Medical School in 1952 and completed his Pediatric Residency at Stanford in 1953. This launched a 40 year career in Pediatrics that spawned from his uncle Jack’s influence in the pharmacy. He had a private practice in San Mateo with doctors Leo Bell, Hilton Atherton, Harry Verby and Patricia Soong.On June 20, 1953 he married Lorraine in Cumberland, Maryland. They moved to California and lived in San Francisco, San Bruno, and finally settled in Hillsborough. Lorraine predeceased Richard in 1990.On November 14, 1992 he married Mary Nichols in Portola Valley, California. They lived in Los Altos Hills and most recently at the Forum Rancho San Antonio.Richard was an avid fly fisherman and outdoor enthusiast. He learned fishing as a boy on Bantam Lake in Connecticut, tied his own flies and fished the rivers of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Alaska. He taught his daughters and grandchildren how to fish and tie flies. It was a fishing discussion in the 1950s that launched a lifelong friendship, many fishing trips and family vacations with beloved friend, Melvin Frank. Richard’s freezer almost always held milk cartons of frozen trout he caught on these adventures.For decades he enjoyed monthly poker nights with his buddies. He spent time with his family hiking, backpacking and of course, fishing. He had a very green thumb and always had a lucrative garden and burgeoning fruit trees. He was a huge sports fan, professional and college sports of all kinds, with special allegiance to the CAL Bears. Game day mornings we were awakened to the CAL fight song blaring through the house. Go Bears!Richard is survived by his wife Mary, daughter Karen and husband Eric Grenfell, daughter Jennifer and husband Rick Cramer, daughter Amy and husband Michael Aiken, stepson Gary Nichols and wife MaryAnn Nichols, stepson Gregg Nichols, grandchildren Sean Cramer, Brandon Cramer, Ashley Grenfell, Peter Grenfell, Meka Taulbee, Jeffrey Nichols, Jayce Nichols.Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, October 27 from 1-5 pm at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo. A funeral mass will be held Friday, October 28 at 11 am at St. NicholasCatholic Church in Los Altos followed by burial and reception at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo from 1-5 pm.In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to : National Parkinson Foundation (http://www.parkinson.org/) American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/) or Alzheimer’s Association (http://www.alz.org/)Richard Peters – A True Gentleman
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