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Obituary for Nicholas "Nick" P. Peterson
Nicholas Palmer Peterson passed away on September 26th doing what he loved – FLYING. Celebration of Life services will be held Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 10:30 AM at Waterstone Community Church, 5890 S Alkire St., Littleton, CO 80127 for Colorado friends, arranged by Ellis Family Services. Informal Gathering services for South Dakota will be announced to family when services have been set.
Donations may be made in Nick’s memory to his family or in his honor at Pilots N Paws at www.pilotsnpaws.org
Nick was born August 22, 1989 in Lakewood, CO to Bernie Peterson. Nick shared his life with his Mom and twin brother, Josh. Nick went to Bear Creek Elementary from 1st - 4th grade, Rooney Ranch Elementary for his 5th and 6th grade years. Nick attended Dunston Jr High and Green Mountain High School.
Nick loved to play football. He played flag football in his early years and tackle football 5th – 8th grade. Nick decided not to participate in football his Freshman – Junior years but late in his Junior year, he decided he was going to go out for football his Senior Year. Not only was he going to go out for football, he was going to start!! He was much smaller at that time than the rest of the team and he had not been with the team that stood before him in which he would compete against for a spot on the starting line but that didn’t stop Nick. He started pumping iron, running and not only did he play football, he was on the starting lineup. At that moment in life, he made his statement that there was nothing in life that he couldn’t accomplish if he set his mind to it.
Nick attended Red Rocks Community College to get his Associates Degree in Business and Finance. It was there that an Army Recruiter approached him, who obviously was great in his selling skills, and sold Nick on joining the Army Reserve in October of 2008.
He left for basic training upon graduation from Red Rocks in June of 2009 for Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. Upon his graduation at Ft. Benning, he was sent to Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio, TX for his AIT training to be a Medic and his AST to be a Physical Therapy Tech. Upon graduation, he was mobilized to Walter Reed Medical Center in which he was on the cover of the USA Today with one of his patients.
After his mobilization he headed back to Colorado to get his Bachelors in Sports Exercise Science at University of Northern Colorado. He graduated in May of 2014. During his time at UNC, Nick was selected by his unit to compete in the Best Warrior Competition, a competition that is overseen by the Department of the Army. He continued to advance in each competition to finish among the top 4 overall in the United States. This is a competition in which soldiers are tested for their aptitude through board interviews, physical fitness tests, written exams, urban warfare simulations and other soldier tasks and drills. Also during his time at UNC, Nick competed and finished in the Tough Mudder Competition in June of 2012 in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Upon his graduating from UNC 2014, Nick was mobilized to Ft. Lewis in Tacoma, WA for 9 months. When he returned in 2015, Nick decided he wanted more adventure. He set his sights and traveled to Europe for almost 3 months. He learned to surf off the coast of Spain, Ran with the Bulls (not once but twice), cliff dived in Croatia, spent time in Denmark, Amsterdam, Germany, Hungary, and France to name a few. He even got to be wined and dined by a Prince of Saudi Arabia.
After his return from Europe he was mobilized to Ft. Knox in 2015. While there, he did testing for the German Proficiency Badge and was qualified at Silver. Of course the Kentucky Derby just happened to take place while he was there and Nick wasn’t about to miss yet another adventure. He picked the winner!!!
When he arrived home from Ft. Knox, he decided he may settle for a while and bought a condo for his first home and worked in the Medical Clinic at DU. But once again adventure and his zest for life called his name and he decided he wanted to fly Blackhawks. Nick put his packet in with Fort Carson.
Nick was accepted into the flight aviation program in 2017 and headed to Ft. Rucker, Alabama in July of 2017 to do his training to become a Warrant Officer. In October of 2017, he headed back to start his Blackhawk training. While in Alabama, he started his private lessons to fly airplanes while training to fly helicopters. Once again, his journey led many people across his path that will forever be touched to have known Nick. On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2019 he graduated and it was a special privileged for him to be pinned by his mother and his brother.
Upon returning back to Colorado, Nick continued his flying of planes and passed his test to receive his private license for fixed wing. He continued to fly to get his hours to get his commercial license. Nick wanted to enhance his flying hours by doing something that made a difference. He signed up with Pilot N Paws to go pick up rescue dogs to bring back to Colorado to foster or Forever homes. Nick was finishing up his last few hours to obtain his commercial license and had just been hired by Trans States Airlines to fly commercial the day before his life fell short of fulfilling his newest career path. Also upon his return to Colorado from Ft. Rucker, Nick had returned to his unit at Fort Carson to continue his Blackhawk Training and the 2 progressions that he needed to complete to be mission ready. He had passed his 1st progression and was just finishing up on his 2nd progression. Nick was promoted to CW2 (Chief Warrant Officer II) at the end of August of this year.
During Nick’s time in service, Nick Peterson received numerous awards, such as the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (4th award), Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (2nd Award), National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. Earlier this year, Nick was awarded his Basic Aviator Badge upon completion of Initial Entry Rotary Wing Training where he attended and completed S.E.R.E. school, and attained his qualifications in the UH-72 Lakota and the UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters.
Grateful for having shared his life were his mother, Bernie Peterson, and his brother, Josh Peterson. He is also survived by his grandfather, Palmer Peterson, aunts and uncles, Brenda Jensen, Betty (Mark) Mayer, and Becky (Jim) Zirpel and many cousins, and friends. Nick was preceded in death by his Grandmother, Marjorie Peterson.
