On Sunday, July 21st, 2019, Robert Roosevelt Peterson (“Bob”), beloved husband of the late Pura Gonzales Peterson, father of Erick Gonzales Peterson, and father-in-law of Christina Pitrelli, passed away peacefully at his home in Rockville, MD.
The eleventh and youngest child of the late Mary Brown Peterson and Pearlie Peterson, Bob was born and raised in Council, North Carolina, where he grew up on his family’s farm and enjoyed playing sports, especially baseball and basketball. He attended Booker T. Washington High School and worshipped with his family and community at Jerusalem Baptist Church.
After moving to Washington, DC and graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Bob briefly returned to North Carolina and worked as a school teacher before joining the Peace Corps and serving in the Philippines, where he taught new pedagogical methods in mathematics to school teachers in the province of Nueva Ecija. There, he met his wife, Pura Cruz Gonzales, a school teacher, as well as her eldest sister, the late Cora Geller, a school principal, and their youngest sister, Metila Foulke, both of whom would become lifelong friends as well as his beloved sisters-in-law.
Upon concluding his Peace Corps service, Bob returned to the U.S., completing a fellowship at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio and postgraduate studies at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, before marrying Pura in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Together, they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Bob earned his Master’s degree from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and welcomed into the world his son and only child, Erick.
Following his graduation, Bob left Ann Arbor with Pura and Erick for Kampala, Uganda. He taught at the Makerere University School of Medicine in Kampala before political upheaval in Uganda led him and his family to Nairobi, Kenya. There, he would begin a long and fruitful career as a United Nations adviser to the Kenyan government as well as a three-year assignment with the UN in Mauritius. During this time, Bob gave his family many wonderful experiences and cherished memories as members of a vibrant international community and through extensive travel to various parts of Africa and Europe.
Upon returning to the U.S. and retiring from the UN, Bob became a financial advisor with Primerica Financial Services in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, a career which he enjoyed immensely right up until his death.
In addition to his son and daughter-in-law, Bob is survived by his beloved sisters and brothers, Berline Peterson Graham, Alton Peterson, Elijah Peterson, and Frances Peterson; his sister-in-law, Metila Foulke and her husband Joe; his many nieces, nephews, and cousins; and his loving friends, too numerous to name here but each one special and dear to his heart.
Besides his loving wife and parents, Bob was also predeceased by his beloved stepmother, Naomi Blue Peterson, as well as his siblings, Roy Peterson, Daniel Peterson, Benjamin Peterson, Herman Peterson, Abram Peterson, and Mary Maybell Peterson Perry.
Bob was a warm, fun-loving man with a sharp sense of humor. He was a great listener, a wonderful storyteller, and a wise counselor. A man of strong faith who was generous and loved to encourage others, Bob will be greatly missed by many.
About Author
