Karl Fairbank Peterson

Karl Fairbank Peterson of Naples, Florida and West Gardiner, Maine died peacefully in his sleep Sunday December 10th at the North Hill Rehabilitation Center in Needham, Massachusetts after a brief illness.

His beloved wife of 60 years, Nancy Libby Peterson, predeceased him in 2011. He leaves his daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and Kevin Bentley of Concord, Massachusetts; his two granddaughters, Kathryn and Laura Bentley; his sister, Ruth Ann Verell; his nephews and nieces: Karl Verell, COL Thomas Verell, LTC(R) Benefsheh Verell, Kamron Verell and Violette Verell.

The son of the late Rear Admiral Clarence H. Peterson and Ruth Evelyn (Middleton) Peterson, he was born in New London, Connecticut in 1927.

Karl started college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at age 15, studying there until he was 18 and old enough to enter the US Coast Guard Academy. He graduated first in his class from the Academy in 1949. He served on ships out of Seattle, Washington and Boston, Massachusetts. In 1953 while in the Coast Guard he completed his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After leaving the Coast Guard, Karl worked briefly for General Electric and General Dynamics before joining the marketing department of Raytheon in 1961. He retired from Raytheon in 1987 as the Division Contracts Manager. He often spoke of how much he enjoyed his job and how proud he was of the work he did there. During this time, he and Nancy lived in Newport, Rhode Island. They had wonderful friends and an active social life; they were deeply involved in the community, particularly Child & Family Services of Newport County, where Nancy was president and chair of the board.

After his retirement, Karl and Nancy wintered in Naples, Florida and summered on Lake Cobbosseecontee in West Gardiner, Maine. Avid golfers and bridge players, they were members of both the Augusta Country Club in Maine and the Moorings Country Club in Naples. They also traveled extensively, seeing much of Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

A kind and warm man known for his wry sense of humor, keen intellect and remarkable facility with numbers, he loved his family deeply and was in turn cherished by them and his friends. He will be sorely missed.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, December 21, 2017 at 1:00pm at the Concord Funeral Home, 74 Belknap St., Concord, MA.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be sent to:
Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed
PO Box 5003
Augusta, ME 04332.