Randy Lee Peterson

Randolph “Randy” Lee Peterson
Born, October 2, 1960, passed July 1, 2023. Preceded in death by father Raymond, mother
Carol and brother Rick. Survived by brother Todd (Amy), Sister-in-law Jackie and nephews and
nieces David, Bradley, Colin, Zoe and Ella, along with adoring Aunt Marion and many cousins
and friends.
Born to Raymond and Carol Peterson in NE Minneapolis, Randy was the oldest of three
rambunctious boys. He graduated Edison High school in 1978 and went on to play in the
University of MN Marching Band enjoying trips with the band to Spain and Morocco. We aren’t
exactly sure when Randy graduated college because he kept going to school, taking more and
more courses. He was a lifelong student! He joined the Marine Corp Reserves in December
1978 with an honorable discharge due to a heart condition in 1984. Throughout the years he
was involved with Boy Scouts as a youth, high school gymnastics, played trombone in the
marching band and the Edison Alumni band and member of the Lions Club.
Pre-stroke Randy shared his love of music as a teacher in the St. Paul Public School system for
many years and worked with elementary, middle-school and high school bands.
Randy enjoyed many camping trips to the Boundary waters as well as adventures on the ski
slopes. He was a sportsman and enjoying fishing and hunting with his family and friends. Orr,
MN was a favorite Peterson hunting spot where they hunted grouse and deer. There were also
turkey hunting trips in Southern MN. He was a very outdoorsy guy. Not only that, he was an
“athlete” so to speak, with a particular love of volleyball, which he played and also coached up
until his stroke.
Randy loved his cats Izzy and TC, was an enthusiastic cook and lover of food. He collected, boy
did he collect! He had many exotic spices and cook books from around the world, band
instruments, albums, books, CD’s and DVD’s. Randy’s love of music included enjoying bands
from many genre’s and going to concerts. His music library included jazz, folk, pop, country rock
and roll and many more! Even though Randy struggled to talk when a familiar song came on, he
could sing it almost verbatim!
While Randy’s life changed dramatically after he had his stroke, he never lost his love of his
family and his witty sense of humor. In the early days when we weren’t even sure there would
be a positive outcome, Randy awoke and knew who we were. He was a fighter! Being unable to
organize thoughts, some of his first words were things like “buzz-buzz” and “Shit!”. With young
nieces and nephews, you can imagine how we were shocked by this, but over the years, it
became a very funny joke and a memory we now cherish. It was refreshing because even
though he was frustrated, he found a way to communicate with one-word as he would shrug
his shoulders like, “What, that’s how I feel?!!” Another term of endearment we found is that
he loved to call people dorks, especially his brother Todd! The word Dork is a family favorite!
Randy always put a smile on people’s faces.

When we visited, he loved kissing your hand and would complain if you didn’t hug him. If you
tried to sneak away, he would yell, “Hey!” and gesture you back for a kiss and hug. If you were
to stop by to visit Randy, oftentimes you would find a sporting event on his TV. He enjoyed
watching the Twins, Wild and cheering on the Vikings. Sometimes, you would find something
more eclectic, like the Lawrence Welk show - who doesn’t like the bubbles?
Randy helped us realize as people grow and age, things don’t become easier. There are more
and more challenges, or maybe just “different” challenges. You can learn to love things in a
different way. You enjoy different things. It was a challenge for us and others to realize that
even though Randy had a very different life post-stroke, he still found joy and happiness in
different ways than he was used to as a fully able-bodied young man. Randy was meant to be
with us after his stroke because he was able to know his nieces and nephews longer. He was
able to spend more time with his mother, Carol, and be with her to say his last goodbyes. Randy
was incredibly fortunate to have life-long friendships that continued to thrive even after his
stroke. How many of us are able to say we have such great friends from our youth? Knowing
the lifelong relationships with his friends was more than enough reason to continue living and
knowing you are loved.
While he may have left this world too early, Randy packed more into his life before he had his
stroke than many of us do in a lifetime. He had “bonus” time post-stroke to see the love of so
many family and friends and with that, he shared his love and humor with all of us.
Memorials to Edison Community & Sports Foundation, directed to the band program.

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