John Peterson Passes Away

This is a message to all the reunion groups we are and have been working with.

It is with great sadness that I report that John Peterson went to be with the Lord at 9:20 last night. For those of you in our last 3 reunions – it was obvious that he was not himself and about 3 weeks ago he went downhill very quickly. He did talk with me as I was with him most of the time through Wednesday. He kept asking me to tell his brother and other visitors stories from our reunion experiences. Amy (his daughter) called me to come back to his room at the skilled nursing center Wednesday evening and we were with him through the night. He had a very bad, extremely painful night on Wednesday night and we finally got him to rest and sleep at about 3:00 a.m. He was heavily medicated throughout the day yesterday and Amy tells me that they gave him even heavier doses last night. I was with him most of the time until about 3:00 yesterday afternoon and Amy called me last night with the sad report. John loved our reunion groups and so looked forward to each one. He took great pride in designing the unique namebadges and working up the best tour schedule possible in each location. He counted all of you as friends and so enjoyed talking with you and working with you to make every reunion the best possible. I don’t have all the details on the service yet, but it is planned for next Friday, July 24th. It will be planned as a true celebration of his life in keeping with the energy and joy he brought to all around him. So think happy thoughts and keep praying for the family! For those of you who do not know – his wife is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and is in a residential care facility so it will not be too long before his daughter will be going through this again.

As far as plans here in the office – we had decided a few months ago that we would no longer teach our classes after this year but that we would plan the reunions through 2010 and then actually retire. I taught the last class in Wisconsin earlier this month. We do have several reunion contracts through 2010 and I will continue with those. My granddaughter, Kaitlyn, has come to work with me and is picking up much of the work John was doing on the reunion details. She has worked events with us on several occasions and has expressed an interest in taking over the business at some point. It would be great fun to help her keep the reunions going. I’m sure you will be meeting her at future events. She is doing a fantastic job and I will miss not having her in the office all day everyday once school starts. She will be a junior at Manitou Springs High School. Thanks to you all for your thoughts, prayers and care. I am looking forward to filling a huge empty hole in my life (we have worked together for 30 years) with carrying on what he so loved for another year and a half. And – I do look forward to seeing each of you again over the next 18 months. You will be hearing from both Kaitlyn and me as dates draw closer.

This is going to the group contacts/coordinators so please pass it on to anyone you feel should hear.
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Sherry R. Mills, CMP, RMP
Creative Training & Conference Management, LLP
& A ‘Complete’ Reunion
P.O. Box 25806
Colorado Springs, CO 80936
719.380.1412 (phone) 719.638.6153 (fax)
sherry@ctcm-acr.com
www.ctcm-acr.com