Dennis William Peterman, 59

Dennis William Peterman, 59, unexpectedly passed away on June 2, 2010, in Peoria, Ariz. He was born on Feb. 8, 1951, to BJ and Marceen Peterman in Whitefish. He is survived by his daughter, Alyssa Peterman; son, Aaron Peterman, and his wife, Alexandra Peterman, and son, Austin Peterman; his mother and father, BJ and Marceen Peterman; his brother, Dave Peterman, and his wife, Dana; sisters, Sharon Howell, and Darcy Trostad and her husband, Russell; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Dennis grew up in Whitefish where he attended school, excelling at sports, particularly basketball. He played for the Whitefish Bulldogs as they took the state championship in 1970, the same year he graduated. After high school, he joined and served in the United States Navy until 1972. Upon his return, he attended and played basketball at Eastern Montana College in Billings. He also went on to play basketball at Saint Paul Bible College in Minnesota. While getting knee surgery, he met a nurse, Karen Erdmann, whom he married on June 5, 1976, the mother to his three children, and who also survives him. Dennis was a member of Evergreen Alliance Church for 20 years, where he participated in the children s ministry. He loved to visit Glacier Park in the summertime where he would spend weekends camping and hiking with his family. He worked at Plum Creek in Columbia Falls for 20 years before moving to Arizona in 2000, where he lived until his recent death. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 26, at Glacier Memorial Gardens. A loving father, brother, son and friend, he will be fondly remembered and dearly missed. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Dennis Peterman Athletic Scholarship at First Interstate Bank.