Jerry R. Peterson, most recently of Lancaster PA, passed away at Lancaster General Hospital at 1:58 PM on Friday, June 3rd.
Born in Oregon in 1936, he was raised in Klamath Falls and Medford. The first in his family to graduate from college, he obtained an engineering degree from Oregon State University in 1958. His undergraduate academic success earned him fellowships to Columbia University where he was awarded a Master’s and a PhD in Chemical Engineering. While a graduate student, he married and is survived by Shirley Marace Neely Lynch of Medford, Oregon, his wife of 57 years.
During his almost 35-year career in research and development at the General Electric Company, he contributed to propulsion, alternative energy, nuclear power and space efforts in Cincinnati, Ohio, San Jose California, Schenectady, New York and King of Prussia, PA.
Jerry is survived by his wife, Shirley, brother Tom, his children Kerstin and Jon, daughter-in-law Kristin and granddaughters Kelsy, Lauren and Devin Peterson. He is predeceased by his sister Lynn Kersten and son-in-law Vito Diana.