Obituary of Gordon A. Peterson

Gordon A. Peterson, 95, formerly of Adams, died at his home in Fayetteville, NY on July 4, 2021.  Funeral service will be 11:00 am Tuesday July 13 at the Adams Village Baptist Church in Adams, NY.  A calling hour will precede the funeral beginning at 10:00 am.  Burial will be at a later time.    Arrangements are with the Piddock Funeral Home Inc, Adams, NY.  Born January 3, 1926 in Syracuse, NY, he was the son of Lester and Bertha (Mandler) Peterson.   In July 1943 he enlisted in the US Navy where he was trained in the Navy V-12 Midshipman School at Brown, Yale and Columbia Universities.  He was commissioned as Ensign in the Spring of 1945.  Gordon served aboard landing craft LCI in 1945 in the Pacific Theatre of operations.  He was discharged from the Navy June 1946. He enrolled at Syracuse University under the G.I. Bill in the fall of 1946.  While at Syracuse University he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1950.  He then went to work for Solvay Process Company, a division of Allied Chemical Corp., as a salesman in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1950.   He married Joan Bredenberg September 29, 1950 at Robinson Memorial Church in Westvale, Syracuse, NY.  In 1953 he left Solvay to work as salesman and office manager at Hawkes Crystal Company in Corning, NY, and in 1957 he went to work as a bookkeeper and tax consultant for Simplified Tax Records in Northern New York, where he was based in Adams, NY before going independent two years later.  In September 1967 he bought Overhead Door Company in Watertown, selling it in 1980 and retiring.    Gordon is survived by his wife Joan, his sons Gary of Petrolia, CA, Robert of Marlborough, MA, and Bruce (Carrie) of Cicero, NY. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Christopher (Lauren) of Chicago, IL; Gregory of Albany NY; Kevin of Portland, OR; Eric of Johnston, RI; and Kyle of Rochester, NY; step-grandchildren Riley and Joey Kawola of Cicero, NY; and his two great-grandchildren, Charlie and Joan, of Chicago, IL. Gordon was predeceased by his oldest son Glenn (Eleanor, of Latham, NY) and his granddaughter Taylor.   The couple joined the Adams Village Baptist Church in the fall of 1957, where he served several terms on the Board of Trustees.  Gordon was a Boy Scout Cub Master and an Assistant Scoutmaster for several years, and served on the South Jefferson Central School board for six years.  He also was treasurer for 20 years for the Church World Service Crop Walk.  Gordon and Joan have owned cottages for many years along Lake Ontario.  Beginning in 1980, they also spent part of their winters in Venice, FL for about 30 years.  They traveled extensively over the years and have visited all 50 states and several foreign countries.   He played and enjoyed (most of the time) golf and was an avid fisherman over the years.  In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Adams Village Baptist Church, 24 E Church St., Adams, NY, 13605.  Condolences may be made at www.piddockfuneralhome.com