1936 ~ 2025
Wayne Clark Peterson of Park City, Utah passed away on May 31, 2025 from a tired heart (CHF) at the ripe old age of 88.
I was born on October 16, 1936 in a little log cabin in Loa, Utah. The second son of William Wayne and Dorothy Bronson Peterson. The only heat in the cabin was from the kitchen stove, so they opened the oven door, put a blanket on it and laid me on the blanket to keep me warm. My brother “Neil” was born in Midway, but me and my sisters “Ruby” and “Luella” were all born in our little Loa Cabin.
My dad was working in Alaska as an electronics technician on a small military base on Attu island, which is at the far end of the Aleutian Chain when on December 7th 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Dad was a civilian and also a private pilot, so the military asked him to relocate to Ogden, Utah to manage the flight simulator program at Hill Field. Dad moved immediately and the rest of the family joined him in May of 1942.
We moved into a small house in Washington Terrace, a still under construction government worker housing complex. I graduated from South Jr. High, Weber High and Weber College. Right after high school I joined the Naval Reserves. In 1956 I was working as a draftsman in the Aeronautical Engineering Division at Hill Airforce Base, when Thiokol Chemical lured me away to work in their Rocket Engineering Division up in the Brigham City.
I graduated from the University of Utah in 1963 in mechanical engineering and spent the rest of my career running a small Consulting Engineering Firm in Salt Lake. While most of our work was located in Utah, we also did a lot of work in the surrounding states. This required that I become a licensed Professional Engineer in dozens of states. I was constantly traveling, so I also became a private pilot.
In 1957 I married Guyla Rosenberg from Cedar City, and we had four kids; Pete, Becky, Jim and Wendy. But me being a workaholic and constantly traveling put a lot of strain on our marriage, which was the primary cause of our divorce.
In 1982 I met Annette Pittard. Annette grew up in and escaped from Communist East Germany when she was 17 years old. She was Val Peterson’s secretary. Val was a good friend of mine. He was also the Director of Physical Plant at USU in Logan. We were married in 1984. Annette had two teenage daughters, Tauna and Phaedra from her previous marriage, and together we had “Josh” and “Tasha”. Between “His, Hers and Ours” we had 8 kids. Together we share many grandkids and great grandkids.
In our 40+ years of marriage we did everything together. Though we had a few minor disagreements not once did we say an unkind word to each other. Annette, I called her “Snooky”, is my forever sweetheart and soulmate.
I was preceded in death by my parents, my brother Neil, both sisters Ruby and Luella and my ex-wife Guyla. I was survived by “Snooky”, Sunny (our Westie) plus all of our kids and grandkids.
I had a great life!
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Human Society of Utah.
Join us as we celebrate the life of Wayne Clark Peterson. Cowboy boots and hats encouraged -- just as Clark would've wanted. Please bring a written memory to leave as a keepsake for his beloved wife, Annette. Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 5:00 pm at 2521 Brentwood Dr, Holladay, UT 84121.
We are so sorry for your loss. Sending love and prayers to you and your family during this difficult time. Hid memory will always live on in your hearts. ❤️
Clark was one of a kind in the mechanical world. He was honest and fair, and could tell a great story.. You knew it would be fun , it you had an Olsen and Peterson job.
We are sending love and prayers for your family in such a difficult time. Wishing you comfort and peace as you remember and look back on his incredible life!
We are so sorry for your loss Annette. Sending you and your family all our love!
We’re so sorry to hear about Clark, he was always so friendly & special & we are thinking of you now & always💕
Annette,
We are so sorry for the loss of your sweetheart.
He was a favorite to work with and as good of man as I’ve ever known. A gentle giant. We will forever cherish our couples trip to Alaska with you two. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.
With Love,
Scott & Stacy VanOrden
There are few men of such character, intelligence, humor and kindness. I am blessed to call him my dad. I will miss his him deeply.
There are few men of such character, intelligence, humor and kindness. I am blessed to call him my dad. I will miss his him deeply. I love you. ❤️
I have to ditto all the great comments above. Clark was as genuine as they get and an absolute pleasure to work with over the years. Annette, we are so very sorry for your loss. We consider ourselves blessed to have been able to connect with you and Clark in St. George for dinner and a great visit last month. God bless you and your family!
Annett I’m deeply sorry at this difficult time. It’s pretty hard for me to attend the celebration of life but will keep you in my prayers. I love you and Clark and will miss seeing seeing you. Aunt Laraine
I was sorry to hear this. I worked for Clark for 25 years until I moved to Colorado, He was a Great man. My condolences to Annette and His Children. RIP Clark.
Clark was an excellent engineer, always willing to help others. A friend & I started a small Mechanical Engineering firm in 1979 and Clark was always willing to share advice. I enjoyed his cowboy poetry and stories on many SMACNA jeep trips. He will be missed.
Annette, I don't know what to say, I only know that Randy, and I are so happy that we got to meet you, and Clark through the Model A. Club. It was always to nice to see both of you at our get togethers. I remember so many outings where we got to know each other better. I'm so glad that you became the driver, and still participated in the car events, and attended meetings.
I know it was because of your love for Clark, and we benefited because we got to see both of you.
I will always remember Clark's smile.
I am so sad to hear of Clark's passing. I was lucky to meet Clark and Annette in recent years and I looked forward to seeing them both each time. I loved reading this obituary and finding out more about Clark. Annette you are in my thoughts and please let me know if I can ever do anything for you.
Sending you all the love,
Caity
Oh no. I just found out about Clark’s passing and I am very, very sad to hear. Clark was a legend in the engineering world in Utah. He was deeply respected as an engineer who really did think outside of the box. And if you knew him you instantly felt you were his best friend. He had that way about him. I was so lucky that as a youngster he allowed me to work for him. He was a mentor, leader and friend. Cherish your dear friends because you never know when you’ll never see them again. I’ll never see him again because I’m sure if there is an afterlife I’ll never make it to his level. Thank you Clark. We will all miss you.