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mayor al 5 years, 11 months ago.
Thank you Al.
Wonderful, Mr. Mayor.
Al, this is why you are the mayor! Thank you for representing all of us at Steve’s funeral. I certainly wished that I could have attended but 750 miles would have made it a three day trip. I am so glad that someone from Roadfood was there as it was certainly a very important part of his life. Thank you, Al.
Thank you, Al.
Thank you, Al.
Regarding the donations to Steve’s Memorial Fund. The family has established a means to channel those donations directly towards a project they knew Steve wanted to do with the H S Band he worked with.
The fund address is listed in the post at the top of this page. I would hope that any and all who would like to donate , will do so, includinging identifing their relationship with Steve through the Roadfood Social group here.
There is a guestbook sign in online at the funeral home, should you wish to leave a personal message for the family.
http://www.davesculbertsonfuneralhome.com www.davesculbertsonfuneralhome.com
Time for a “SMALL WORLD” story about my friend Steve-
Back in the early 1990’s when I was earning my title “Mayor” by railfanning the Union Pacific and Santa Fe RR’s coming out of Los Angeles, one my favorite spots to watch and photograph the U.P rail action was at the West end of the Rail Yards near Colton, CA. It so happened there was a Farmer Boys Burger Stand at the point where Miliken Ave crossed the Rail lines, and across the tracks was a huge T/A Truck Stop. I would grab a burger and onion rings and park along the back wall of the truck stop to wait for a photo op for eastbound trains..2 or 3 each hour.. The area was clearly marked NO Parking…but manyrailfans ignored the signs and loitered there for hours at a time. Well, more than one time a truck with a T/A Employee would come out and run us off the property, threatening to have us ticketed as treaspassers. Skip Forward 15 or 20 years and in a casual talk about our mutual SoCal times Steve commented on his job as a Manager of the T/A Truck Stop on I-10 in Ontario. As we compared notes about activity, and timing, it turned out that he had probably been the guy who ran me off the property, more than once, a decade or more before.
Yes, It is a small world. You never know when you will cross paths with someone again… I miss our talks and the fun we shared very much.
Ed I can’t think of a better way for a genuine Roadfooder like Steve…and no jest intended at all, Steve loved the Road and he loved exploring Roadfood establishments all over the country…any I can’t think of a better way to close out a person’s contributions to this site than your report of your San Diego visit with Steve Peterson, POVERTY PETE, just a few weeks ago.
I returned late last night from the round trip ride down to Tullahoma, TN Home of one of Steve’s sisters and her husband. The family had gathered for a graveside memorial service at a local cemetery, with a local Preacher conducting the service. Steve’s involvment with the Father Ryan’s High School Band Organization was noted by representation at the service by the schools leadership and parents paying their respects to a man who had contributed to the success of the Band in it’s competitions for several years. I was suprised a bit when I was asked, at the start of the service, if I would be willing to say a few words about Steve’s Roadfood participation. Never one to turn down a chance to promote the RF life I shared a few stories of Poverty Pete and the Glee Club activities over the years. The family had printed out the this thread with the various posts from all of you about Steve and the photos that have been posted here. They shared that print-out with all the visitors to the service and the follow-up social afterwards. I thought that was a very nice thing to do as many folks did not get to sign the guest book on-line at the Funeral Home.
I took a few photos for the family and will post just a few here including my thoughts of how Steve might have looked as he watched the proceedings yesterday. After the service I visited withthe family for awhile then headed North, arriving home sortly before Mid-nite. I was travel-worn, but I felt good inside that I was able to do what I thought I needed to do to honor my Friend.
STEVEN ERIC PETERSON 1951-2015
Prayers for the Peterson family.
Very sorry to hear of Poverty Pete’s (Steve’s) early passing. We never met, but it sounds as though he was quite a nice guy.
Glenn
Terrible news. I read this and was extremely heartbroken. He seemed like such a good man in his posts. I wish for comfort for his family and friends, especially you Al. You sound like really close friends.
Steve called me up in early January and said he was going to be in San Diego, Visiting his mother and taking care of some family business. He asked me to come down so he could show me some of his favorite places. Little did I know this would be the last time I’d see him. I picked him up in Del Mar and we drove to La Jolla. As we entered town, he pointed out a house where he had done the screens when he was working as a teen. We wound up at The Cottage, a place I had wanted to try and his favorite place to eat when he was young. I was driving, so he had a Bloody Mary to start. We had a delicious breakfast as he told me about growing up in San Diego, where his mother was the Romper Room Lady on local TV.
[attachment=Streve Peteerson.jpg]
Next we went to a place called Pizza Port, where he learned the art of brewing. As we sampled a few beers and he told me how their brewing equipment had changed over the years, it was just a fun time. After that, we went to a Mexican place his mother suggested, where we both had chili rellenos, chips and a margarita. I dropped him off and we parted ways. It was a great day and a great way to see where he grew up.
Wow, this is no way to start my weekend. I met Steve last year when he was on his way to a gig at the Meadowlands. He sought me out to join him for a good Italian Hot Dog. After hooking up at a truck yard in Linden where he parked his truck we headed over to Big Blues in Linden. Steve was happy, I was happy he was happy. After lunch we spent a couple of hours shooting the breeze. All I can say is the Man led a full, interesting life. But still, way too short.
At work when asked how we are doing a common reply is a sarcastic “Living the dream.” Even before reading the tributes here, I knew from Steve’s postings that he really was living his dream. I especially liked reading about his travels with the Drum Corps. I can imagine the kids really becoming attached to an adult like Steve on their trips away from home.
I’m sad to hear of our loss.
Does anyone know what name the “Band Kids” knew him as?
Did they know him as Steve or Poverty Pete or some other name?
I wonder if they had a Nickname for him?
I’d like to make a donation to the Fr. Ryan band and would like to use the name they knew him by.
Maybe if someone is willing to volunteer to head it up we could collectively contribute as a group if someone would be willing to collect the money and handle it.
For all the comments and jokes about the “Mayor” title etc and the crown that appears now and then.. I came across this photo of the day Steve conned a number of you into donating to buy the thing off the shelf at LYYN’S PARADISE CAFE, IN LOUISVILLE. Here we are as we left the restaurant that day after a late breakfast. Steve seems quite proud of himself for his prank.
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