St. George, Utah - Ralph Eugene Peterson, 81, passed away peacefully from Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia on December 14, 2022. Ralph was born on December 27, 1940, in Ogden, Utah to Philo and Grace Peterson. He was the sixth child in a family of ten children, four boys and six girls. He married Joanne Hill on December 19, 1959 and they were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.

Ralph was raised in Ogden, Utah and attended Ogden High School and graduated in 1959. He then went on to attend Weber State for a year where he was a student body officer. He then continued his studies at Brigham Young University and received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in 1966.

In July of 1960 they welcomed their first son Michael Eugene. While attending BYU he and Joanne had 2 more children, Ronna Lynne in 1963 and Robert Craig in 1965. Gina, their last child was born in Midland, MI in 1969.

Ralph had many engineering jobs throughout his career including Dow Chemical (Midland, MI), Deseret Pharmaceutical (Sandy, UT), Parker Hannifan (SLC, UT), Acaydia Polymers (Roanoke, VA) and Wilson Sporting Goods (Humboldt, TN) where he was the Chief of R&D over golf ball design. His crowning achievements in his career were designing and manufacturing industrial seals/O-rings and several patents that he worked on. With that he was able to travel to many places including Rotterdam, Netherlands where he oversaw work being done on the dikes. His seals were also used for the rocket boosters that helped launch the space shuttles. He was especially proud of the work he did at Wilson Sporting Goods designing and improving golf balls. While working for Wilson he and Joanne were able to fulfill a dream of attending the British Open and playing St. Andrew's golf course.

Ralph enjoyed many sports such as softball, golf, skiing, and took advantage of them while living at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. He was always the neighborhood handyman and enjoyed helping serve those around him. They enjoyed their time in Cottonwood Heights on Brighton Point Drive where they lived for 15 years. In 1989 life took them to Roanoke, Virginia for 4 years, then to Jackson, Tennessee for 10 years. After retirement they moved to St. George, Utah where they served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 18 months while building their house in Bloomington.

In December 2018, he married Helen Eileen Mclure. They resided in St. George until his death.

He is survived by his wife Helen Eileen McClure, son, Michael (Beth) of Boise, ID; daughter, Ronna Christian of Draper, UT; son, Rob (Stacey) of Rancho Cucamonga, CA; daughter, Gina (David) Murphy of Springville, UT; his grandchildren; Lindsay, Garrett, Brittany, Kelsey, Jill, Robbie, Erin, Mason, Emory, Maren, Halle, Lily and Bridgette and 9 great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Joanne; parents Philo and Grace Peterson; and siblings Maureen Barr, Phil Peterson, and Lynette Fenwick.

Our family would like to thank the many doctors, nurses, family and friends who cared for Ralph during his last few years.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, December 28, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Bloomington 4 th Ward Chapel, 3381 Mulberry Drive, St. George, Utah. Ralph will be buried at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery in Cottonwood Heights next to his wife, Joanne at a later date.