MESQUITE, Texas – Robert “Bob” Ward Peters passed away Tuesday, July 26, 2011, in Plano, Texas. Bob was born Feb. 11, 1943, in Bangor, the son of Henry M. and Marion Ward Peters.
He grew up in Bangor and graduated from Bangor High School in 1961. He attended college in Pennsylvania and later was awarded a Bachelor’s of Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Maryland. He became interested in amateur radio as a child and received his citizens band license at age 15 as WN1JNN. Because of moves and upgrade he also held the call signs K1JNN, N4TRU, KK5FJ and W1PE. He served as vice president and on the board of directors for Dallas Amateur Radio Club and was a member of Ham Association of Mesquite, Texas. He was well known for being “Santa on the Air” on Christmas Eve. Bob held a Federal Communications Commission Amateur Radio Extra Class license, an FCC General Radio Telephone license and a certification from the Society of Broadcast Engineers. For several years he served as the commercial exhibits chairman for HamCom and was active in Dallas-Fort Worth Radio Scouting for Boy Scouts of America. Bob joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1966 and had control of MARS in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He was later stationed with the Defense Intelligence Agency at NATO headquarters in the Netherlands for four years. Before his honorable discharge in 1978, he served on the Presidential Communications Team at SHAPE Belgium for five years and carried a Cosmic Top Secret clearance. Music was an important part of Bob’s life, and he spent his remaining years involved in marketing and management in the foreground and background commercial music, including Music Choice, MUZAK, AEI Music, Yesco and 3M, and as a commercial satellite television distributor of DirecTV. At the time of his death, he was vice president and general manager of Audio Video Media. He served on the Music Choice Advisory Board and the AEI Music Network Dealer Council. Bob was a member of ARRL, ARRL Diamond Club, Quarter Century Wireless Association, Dallas Amateur Radio Club, Ham Association of Mesquite, Army MARS, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.
Bob is survived by his wife, Jane; his son, Douwe Peters Iedema of Brunssum, Netherlands; stepsons, David Walker and wife, Gera, of Lithia Springs, Ga., William Walker and wife, Victoria, of Bremerton, Wash., and Michael Walker of Seattle; stepdaughter, Reed Walker Haight of Davis, Calif.; brother, Bradley Peters and wife, Jan Ross, of Erving, Mass.; stepgrandchildren, Benjamin Haight, Christopher Walker and Evan Walker; nieces and nephew.
Memorial services will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, July 30, at Sparkman Funeral Home, 1029 South Greenville Ave., Richardson, Texas, with the Rev. Paul E. Nichols and Jay H. Miller conducting the service. Inurnment will take place at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at a later date. Memorials may be made to AARL Diamond Club or Boy Scouts of America.