Raymond John Petersen was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 30, 1939, to Donald Hald Petersen and Inez Carolyn (Hulting) Petersen.  After three years of failing health, God called him to his new home in heaven on August 19, 2018.

The Petersen family moved into a new home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in 1941.  Raymond attended high school at Wheaton Academy and Wheaton (Illinois) College where he participated in ROTC and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1960.

Mr. Petersen graduated from Harvard Law School in 1963 and, upon graduation, entered law practice in Chicago's Loop with the firm Ross, Hardies, Babcock, McDougal, and Parsons.  His specialty in law was litigation involving interstate gas line rate cases, a practice which required much travel to Washington, D.C., Houston, and other cities.

He was a member of the Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church where he was confirmed and taught Sunday School.

Tiring of law practice, he retired from the legal profession in 1974 and moved to Colorado where he lived in Grand Junction and Cedaredge, not far from where his parents had relocated years before.  There, Raymond pursued the passion of his heart, serving the needy and disenfranchised.  As an expression of his deep faith in Jesus Christ, he taught Bible studies to inmates in the Delta County Jail for more than thirty years.  He was always faithful to his local church at First Baptist of Grand Junction and later Eckert Presbyterian Church.  For decades, he worked at his local food bank, organized the local annual Angel Tree Christmas gift program providing hundreds of personally selected gifts for children of inmates, and pursued a life of philanthropy directing significant resources to more than one hundred Christian organizations and outreaches to the poor and needy.

A special focus of Raymond's heart for the needy was expressed through his establishment of a small charity called Affirmation Ranch and his foster parenting of a total of thirty-nine foster boys.

He loved reading, had a wry sense of humor, and collected books of political cartoons which he loved to share.

Raymond showed much love and compassion to his aging parents until their passing and was a model of kindness and consideration to everyone.  He was a reserved, humble man with a deep love for God and his family—especially his sister, Donna Lynn (Petersen) Poland who survives him.  He is also survived by brother-in-law Larry Poland, six nieces and nephews, and other extended family members.