Obituary for Peter Ernest Rasmussen Peter Ernest Rasmussen, age 75, former University of Montana basketball player, lover of family, master story teller, skilled self-deprecator, founding father of “EKU” and esteemed member of the Yoke’s early morning coffee club, passed away September 18, 2018. Pete was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa and graduated from Davenport Central High School in 1961. He spoke fondly of his childhood, including holidays in Iowa with beloved aunts, uncles and cousins.
He shared many stories of family trips to Ten Mile Lake, Minnesota and active afternoons at the local YMCA. In 1962, Pete descended upon a magical place…Missoula, MT. Life was forever changed when Pete became a devout Grizzly through a basketball scholarship at the University of Montana.
It was there that he fell in love with and married his warmhearted wife Diane. In 1966, Pete graduated with a degree in business from U of M and continued his education at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. where in 1979 he received his MBA.
Pete was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Rasmussen and his mother Dorothy Gray. He will be greatly missed by his overly devoted wife of 52 years Diane, his two proudest accomplishments sons Ed, Eric (Holly) and his brother Jon (Denise), sister Karen (Nick), and those who gave him his greatest joy, grandchildren Sadie, Anna, Gracie and Mac. During his professional career Pete worked for Boeing, Westinghouse, and spent 30 very long years as a Contracting Officer with the US Department of Energy.
Since 1971, Pete took pride in the Concord Heights Neighborhood of Kennewick. For countless years, you would find him enthusiastically hosting neighborhood festivities like the annual 4th of July celebration or playing Santa to the neighborhood on Christmas Eve. Before passing Pete left behind a rooster tail of laughter, one-liners, creative obscenities, perpetual generosity & compassion.
We will especially remember his love of youth sports, specifically his affection for Kennewick High School Athletics. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough space to list all the people Pete admired. Thank you to everyone that loved him, laughed with him, or elbowed up for a sporting event.
You all know who you are. A memorial service will be held at Kennewick First Presbyterian Church 2001 W. Kennewick Ave. on Saturday, October 6th at 1pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Troxel Foundation; c/o Eric Ellison 1236 Columbia Park Trail Richland, WA 99352. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Peter Ernest Rasmussen please visit our Sympathy Store. Upcoming Events Memorial Service , OCT 6.
01:00 PM Kennewick First Presbyterian Church 2001 W. Kennewick Ave. Kennewick, WA, US, 99336 www. kfpc.org/ Order Flowers for the Memorial Service Guaranteed delivery before Peter’s Memorial Service begins.
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