Roy L. Peters

Roy L. Peters, 91, of Roy, died Monday evening, September 12th, 2016 in the Central Montana Nursing & Rehab Center of natural causes. He was born January 22, 1925 in Springfield, MO the son of Joseph and Anna (Chapman) Peters. The family made several trips to Montana and settled at the Kendall homestead in the 1930’s. Roy attended Green Mountain Grade School and high school at Fergus County High School in Lewistown.

World War II was on and Roy enlisted before high school graduation with his buddy Larry Lund. He went to boot camp at Farragut, ID, which was the second largest Naval Training station in the world. He was then sent to Gulf Port, MS for diesel school. Those who passed this training formed the crew of the LSM 96. This ship and crew were made into a fire fighting unit, which ended up in the Okinawa Islands. Many a mission required the crew to rescue soldiers from burning ships, a long and tough job.

When the war ended the crew of the 96 stayed in close touch. Roy attended several ship’s reunions. Each of the crew received two battle stars one for action in the Philippines and one for winning the Battle of Okinawa. Roy was fortunate to be a part of the Montana Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. as he said “It was a great tribute to all of us old has-beens and I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.

He spent most of his early married life custom haying. He bought a ranch at Two Dot and ran sheep, then moved to Judith Gap when their Two Dot home burned to the ground. In 1960 Roy bought the home ranch at Roy. There Roy had quite a task before him, there were seven people living in a four room house with no water, phone and 12 miles of gumbo to Roy. He became a progressive operator, loving to put up hay and probably had the first swather in Fergus County. He was not necessarily a cowboy but he knew cattle and became a great stockman. He experimented with various breeds of cattle, always centering around black angus. He “bust his buttons” with what his yearling weighed when they came in in the fall. No one can say that Roy didn’t live his life doing what he wanted although it was not necessarily easy to live with him. Dad worked hard and worked his family the same. He dearly loved his great grandchildren and would travel miles to spend a weekend where they were.

At 89 Roy could still swath a straight line and accepted Roger and Robin’s challenge to keep up to him with the rake and bailer.  Roy was united in marriage to Betty Jean Pettit when he returned from the war and they had seven children.

Roy is survived by seven children Monica (Sam) McDowell of Bridger, MT, Dian (Mark) Giesick of Bridger, MT, Roger (Robin) Peters of Roy, MT, Tyler Peters of Houston, TX, Chris (Steffani) Peters of Gillette, WY, Kelly (Tamara) Peters of Gillette, WY and Terry Peters of Murray, UT; sisters Carolyn Weingart, and Ida Ruckman both of Lewistown and brother Gerard of Ryegate, MT; grandchildren Trevor, Travis, Heather, Clinton, Clayton, D’Jean, Hayden, Christopher and Joey; numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife in 2009, his parents, 2 brothers and 1 sister.

Graveside Services for Roy L. Peters will be Saturday, September 17th, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. in Central Montana Memorial Gardens. The Cloyd Funeral Home is assisting the family.
Friends are asked to make memorials to the Roy Fire or Ambulance, the V.F. W. of Lewistown or the charity of their choice and they may be left at the Cloyd Funeral Home.