George Warren “Pete” Petersen, 91, of Seattle, died of natural causes on February 27. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Yuki, children Rea, June, Bill, Alice and Jeff; 6 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and brother, Walter.
Born in Dallas to George and Josephine Petersen, Warren grew up in Dallas and Houston Texas, and Columbus, Nebraska, where he graduated from high school.
He attended the University of Washington, where – after time in the US Army Air Forces in Oregon, Michigan, Oahu, and Tokyo – he completed his B.A.in 1949 in Economics and Personnel Administration.
Then he worked as a herdsman on a “Goat Boat” to Okinawa, stayed briefly with his parents, who were living in Tokyo, then worked as a civilian with the 5th Air Force in Nagoya, where he met and married Yuki and they started a family.
After returning to the U.S., they resided in Seattle and Wenatchee, and returned to Japan in 1956, living in Nagoya and Fuchu / Nishi Takaido.
After living in Ephrata and Seattle, the family moved back to Japan where he worked as a civilian at Tachikawa Air Base from 1967-1970. There the family toured Japan on vacations in their giant 1960s Ford station wagon.
After returning to North Seattle and retiring from civil service, he took up running and finished several marathons, including Nike Oregon Track Club, Trail’s End in Seaside Oregon and Lion’s Gate in Vancouver, B.C.
Warren and Yuki lived in Bahrain from 1981-1984 and 1987-1993 where he was an advisor to the Bahraini government. He continued running 5k and 10k races with the local running club. They continued to make friends from around the world and vacationed in Tokyo, London, Vienna, Scotland and Maui.
After fully retiring in 1993, he and Yuki divided their time between Seattle and Sun City West, Arizona, where they volunteered at Mariners Spring Training games in Peoria for seven years.
He continued to compete in the Senior Olympics in Arizona and ran daily in his North Seattle neighborhood through his 
late 80s.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Habitat for Humanity.
Open house reception for family and friends at Vineyard Park Mountlake Terrace, 23008 56th Ave. W. Mountlake terrace, WA 98043 on Saturday March 12, 2-4 pm
