Varlen Cecil Peterson, 91, died 15 Oct 2018 at Valley View Villa, 815 Fremont Ave, Fort Morgan, Colorado, 80701.

Varlen was born on 30 Oct 1926 near Shaw, Lincoln County, Colorado (across the county line southeast from Glen, Washington County) to Alvin and Mollie (Scott) Peterson. Since Varlen was born the day before Halloween, he soon gained the name he was best known as, “Spook”. Varlen had three siblings, Earl Peterson, Nadine Holder, and Betty Trim.

Varlen grew up on a farm during the depression years and the dirty thirties which shaped his life and his love of the land. He graduated from Lindon High School in 1944 and soon thereafter was drafted into the military.

Registration Date: 28 Apr 1944
Enlistment City: Fort Logan, Arapahoe County, Colorado
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law.

He served in the 6th US Army Air Corps where he was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone through the duration of World War II.

Upon his return from the service, he met and married Arvella Smith and they remained in the Lindon area where they farmed and ranched while raising their family. Varlen loved working on the farm and ranch, grilling home-raised beef steak, helping friends and family, and watching old westerns on TV.

He had a sharp wit and could always make a person laugh. In his youth, he was an exceptional athlete playing high school and then town-team basketball and baseball. He was also a practical jokester. In the fall of the year, he and some of his local friends liked to sneak into the neighbor’s melon patches and make off with a few watermelons. For the most part, the neighbors took this as good-natured fun. He liked to hunt deer and elk in the mountains with close friends and family, until his knee finally gave out in 1972.

Varlen is survived by one sister, Nadine Holder of Larkspur Colorado, two children, Gregory Peterson of Lindon and Rick Peterson of Rapid City, South Dakota, four grandchildren; Jessica Paquelier of Carmel Valley, California, Molly Brown, of Aurora, Colorado, Meagan Washburn of Aurora, Colorado, and Melissa Peterson of Denver, Colorado; and four great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents, his wife Arvella, his brother Earl, and sister Betty.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 24th at 11:00 at Heer Mortuary , Brush Chapel, 222 Cameron Street, Brush Colorado 80723