Thomas Erik Peterson

With sorrow our family announces the death of Thomas Erik Peterson and with joy we celebrate his entrance into eternal life on Thursday, June 15, 2023.

Tom loved the Lord Jesus and was loved by Him. He was born in Amarillo, Texas, on March 4, 1946, the third of five sons of Edwin and Lucy Peterson. The family moved to Boise, Idaho, when Tom was in first grade. He was a red-headed, brave child. When he was in grade school they moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and then to Spokane, Washington, where he attended Saint Augustine's grade school and Gonzaga Prep High School, played basketball and football, and delivered newspapers. At the beginning of his sophomore year they moved to Ukiah, California, where Tom attended Ukiah High and played football, basketball, and baseball (which he says he wasn't very good at).

He went to Dartmouth College in 1964, taking one year to attend UC Berkeley. After receiving an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth, Tom hitchhiked home from New Hampshire to California. He drove a taxi in Oakland, which he called a dangerous and disturbing job. One of the first days he drove, a passenger brandished a gun. After that year, Tom decided to study law at Harvard University. Even though he didn't know the Lord, he knew he was being blessed to have been accepted and felt unready. It was "a radical experience" for him. He saw two basic camps of people—those who were proud of their altruistic aims, and those who more honestly were after money and power. Unsettled by the paucity of the values and motivations he perceived in himself and those around him, Tom left law school, searching for deeper meaning in life. It was a revolutionary time in his life. He took a job in the pear orchards of Northern California and set out to write philosophy. He lived with his brother David in a shack in a vineyard, and it was there the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Tom. It was the most comforting, welcoming invitation Tom had ever felt. He knew he was supposed to follow Jesus but didn't know what that meant. About the same time, Tom's best friend, Jim Lane, also heard the gospel. Understanding with joy, they both repented, were given salvation through Jesus, and brought into the kingdom of God and the hope of eternal life. This altered the course of Tom's entire life.

In 1971, as the Jesus Movement revival was sweeping the West Coast, Tom eagerly joined the Jesus People House in Fortuna, CA, then along with his brother David, the Lighthouse Ranch, a Christian community on the ocean cliffs of Eureka. Tom became a leader and elder in the ministry, called Gospel Outreach. He invested his all into being a disciple of the Lord Jesus and there he met Cynthia Kohlhas, of San Mateo, California, who was also recently converted. Through God's miraculous direction, they married in 1973. They immediately moved to lead Living Waters Ranch, but during their first week there, his brother David was run over and killed in Eureka by a drunk man for sharing the Gospel. It was a terrible testing. Though Tom did not want to forgive the man at first, he was able to by God's grace. Ten months later, Tom's closest lifetime friend, Jim, also went to be with Jesus as the result of an accident. In this pain, Tom held fast to the Lord.

The time at Living Waters was eventful. A demented local man would curse Tom from a dead tree along the road. Local thieves would steal food at night from the ranch, particularly eggs. The local drug growers even torched the ranch's bus one night.

Tom and Cynthia moved down to Los Angeles to lead the LA team. Their first daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1974. Tom loved preaching and called it "the best feeling in the world" to be with other brethren following the Lord, knowing they were on the leading edge of what God was doing in the world.

In 1980 Tom and Cynthia moved to Chicago with their three daughters, Elizabeth, Amy and Suzanna, to lead the Gospel Outreach church plant there. Having been raised in small towns, Tom did not particularly like big, rough Chicago, but he and Cynthia knew the best place to raise their children was in the Lord's will. Tom led the Chicago church, preaching and discipling, for over 20 years. In Chicago he and Cynthia had a son, Sam, and a surprise fifth child, the treasured Annie. He saw God grow groups together into community and experienced rich fellowship with fellow leaders and believers.

Tom spent his life in ministry, deeply impacting many lives with his love for the Word and the Lord. He exemplified obedience to Jesus' command to "make disciples." In addition to pastoring, for over 20 years he gave oversight to Gospel Outreach's national and international ministry teams. His ministry also touched the youth of Chicago, as he helped found a Christian school, served as high school principal, taught Bible and philosophy, and had a father's impact.

Throughout his life, Tom endured the effects of a congenital heart defect, undergoing two open-heart surgeries, two episodes of endocarditis, and over 20 years of various strokes. In 2018 he suffered a partially debilitating stroke and lived the last years of his life persevering in faith in difficult physical circumstances.

After his retirement from ministry, Tom wrote a book that had long been on his heart, The Right to Nominate, which addresses the current political party system in light of the United States Constitution and proposes solutions. He and Cynthia moved to Kansas City where a number of their children and grandchildren lived.

Tom discipled and ministered to hundreds of people during his life. His children consider him the best possible father, who prepared them for life by instilling an unwavering love for the Lord and His Word. He was an extraordinary father who learned how to father directly from God the Father. He had a unique ability to champion each one of his five children's individual personalities and callings in God. Each one truly believed they were his favorite. And the church knew him as a rock, a father, a wise man, a teacher, uncompromising on the truth, tender, full of love, a protector of children, and a man of God. Tom's love and gratitude for his wife, Cynthia, often brought him to tears as he expressed awe of her love, care, service, and help to him. He loved her deeply and to the end.

Tom is survived by his wife, Cynthia, his five children and their spouses (Elizabeth & Peter Herder, Amy & Tim Barreto, Suzanna & OJ McDowell, Sam & Dora Peterson, Annie & Kenon Kawase), seventeen grandchildren, and two brothers (Mike & Steve Peterson).

Tom's service will be livestreamed at the scheduled service time. Click here to view the service.

"To share a memory of Thomas or leave a special message for his family, please visit the guestbook below."