Jeffrey Wayne Peterson

TSgt Jeffrey Wayne Peterson, 60, USAF, Ret., of Summerville, SC, husband of Page Annette Goettsch Peterson entered into eternal rest Monday, October 2, 2023. His Funeral Service will be held Friday, October 6, 2023 in the J. Henry Stuhr Inc., Northwoods Chapel, 2180 Greenridge Road at 12:00 pm.  Interment to follow at Plantation Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Friday one hour prior to the service. 

Jeffrey was born July 24, 1963 in San Diego, California, son of the late William and Helen Peterson. He was a Mechanical Assembler for SAIC and was a retired U.S. Air Force - Staff Sergeant. He enjoyed photography and music.

He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Page G Peterson of Summerville, SC; two children, Annetta "Annie" Elayne Williams (Matt) of Mt. Pleasant, SC and Natalie Faythe Peterson of North Charleston, SC; eight grandchildren: Myla Rene Goettsch, Maci Rhea Goettsch, Presley Grace Williams, Mallori Raylon Goettsch, Meadow Rose Crist, Matthew Deyton Williams, Nova Wren Roberson, Tice Carter Williams; five siblings: Marina Jones (Randy) of Micaville, NC, Lorelei Moran (Brian) of Hickory, NC, Gregory Peterson (Michaela) of Germany, Debbie McCay (Mike) of Jamestown, SC and Ronnie Peterson of Moncks Corner, SC; mother-in-law and father-in-law Russell and Kathleen B Goettsch; and many nieces and nephews.

Preceded in death by his parents, sons, Michael Waylon Goettsch and Matthew Dyllon Peterson. 

Flowers will be accepted and memorials may be made to Postpartum Support Charleston, 636 Long Point Rd, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 www.ppdsupport.org.

Jeff was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, and Opa. He was the fourth born of six children. He was born in San Diego, CA and raised in Goose Creek, SC. He moved from Green Mountain, NC to North Charleston, SC before settling in Goose Creek, SC in 1970. He and Page met in 1983 when he was 19. They had their first date in February of that year. February 14, 3 years later, he and Page got married. Not only was he committing himself to Page, he also committed himself to her young son, Waylon. Jeff embraced his new role as a father very well. He and Page would go on to add two daughters to the family. In 1996 they left the city life behind and began their new lives in New Hope at what they like to call, The Peterson’s Parcel. His new name, dad, certainly his favorite name until he became an Opa to 6 granddaughters and 1 grandson. 
He enjoyed all the things being a father brought about, baseball, dance, softball, piano lessons, horse back riding, swim lessons, working on cars, playing instruments and naturally, built in sidekicks for his own hobbies. He enjoyed music, roller coasters, school projects, especially last minute ones, and building RC airplanes. And that’s just naming a few. As his children and grandchildren grew, so did the long list of sports and hobbies he was always there to support. While he loved all these things, his favorite hobby and passion was photography. 
Jeff was an E-5 in the United States Air Force where served 33 years before retiring in 2014. During his time in the Air Force he was called to active duty twice. The first was for the Gulf War in 1990. He was deployed for 6 months before returning home. He was again called to duty from 2001 to 2009 and proudly served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. After returning home he went back to work full time and also went back to school. At the age of 49, he reached a goal he set for himself. While working a full time job, he earned 2 bachelor’s degrees. One degree was in cyber security and for the other, he was the first class to recieve a bachelor’s degree in cloud computing. With his new degrees he began his final career at SAIC as a wire schematicer. 
He always had a passion for photography but with 3 children at home, he didn’t have the time to dive into it completely just yet. But as soon as they were all grown, he jumped head first into it and his photography skills blossomed. His love of photography was unmatched. He loved to learn and was always willing to share his knowledge with anyone who would listen… or even pretend to listen. 
He was an avid roller coaster lover, every year on vacation there was surely an amusement park involved. And every year you can bet he’d be right there riding them next to his family regardless of how sick it was going to make him. Assured proof of his selflessness. 
He always made an effort to support the ones he loved and cared about, no matter how big or small. He could bond with anyone over an interest of his and certainly could and would talk your ears off about anything if you let him. 
He absolutely loved music. He learned to play all types of instruments, his latest favorite being the banjo. He never turned down a concert invite, especially a 90’s country concert. It could be across the country, it didn’t matter, you could count him in! His love of music was obviously genetic. If Annie was around there was surely music being played, toes being tapped and every word being sung. 
He was very proud of and loved his yard. Living out in the country, driveways are optional, to some. You can guarantee you’d be getting at least a side eye for riding through the yard. Unless you were his favorite son in law, Matt. Little did he know, his beloved yard would soon become a parking lot of sorts with All kinds of trucks - mud trucks, bogged down trucks with trailers, regular trucks- along with motors but he didn’t mind it at all. After all, it meant he would be seeing his family and that meant the world to him. 
Jeff loved living life, anything German, music, waterfalls, photography, and especially Nissan trucks. If there was adventure to be had he was there for it. His latest fascination was his daughter and son in laws new found love for mud truck racing. He spent many of hours working on that truck side by side with them. He thoroughly enjoyed learning new things that came along with mud truck racing. He was able to join his passion of photography to this and took some amazing photos of the trucks at every race he attended. 
Jeff loved food, especially hot dogs, he once ate 13 hot dogs at a church picnic, a story that often made his mom blush. He was always on the hunt for new foods and restaurants to try. Two things you could guarantee he would never turn down are Bojangles and Mountain Dew. If either go out of business, you’ll know why. 
As long as there was something cool to photograph he was there! I’m sure he could’ve never dreamed he’d photograph oiled up, spray tanned men in bodybuilding bikinis. But while supporting his daughter in her sport,  there he was, photographing everything and learning all about the bodybuilding world. 
If there was ever a man who knew almost everything, it was Jeff. if he didn’t know, he soon would find out. A recent overheard conversation of his was about chemicals, for a man who never worked with chemicals he sure knew a lot about them. 
Of all the things, he loved his wife the most. He loved doing life with her. No matter what, you could guarantee he was by her side and ultimately her by his. 
Jeff is a true role model to what a loving husband, father, Opa, and friend is. The world will never have another Jeff Peterson that is one thing that is for sure.