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Rudolph S. Petersen

JUPITER, FL – Rudolph S. Petersen, 83, of Jupiter, Florida, died on February 15, 2016, following a period of declining health.

He was born in Queens, N.Y. on March 20, 1932, son of the late John and Margaret (Rauch) Petersen.

He was raised and educated in Cedarhurst and New Lebanon, N.Y. and Short Falls, N.H. and graduated from Pembroke Academy and the University of New Hampshire with degrees in business administration and mechanical engineering. He served in the United States Army from 1951 through 1955.

In 1962, he moved to Brookline, N.H., where he raised his family and lived for nearly forty years.

Mr. Petersen took up personal interests with unbridled passion. As a running enthusiast, he completed several marathons including the Boston Marathon, which he last ran in 1991. He was a devoted fan of Boston sports teams. The pursuit of vegetable, fruit and flower gardening resulted in acres of cultivated and productive soil for several decades of his life.

Petersen also led ambitious family pursuits in travel, boating, fishing, hiking, skiing, cycling, camping, wine making and harvesting firewood. He had a passion for American history and retained an active interest in current events, public policy and politics.

As a mechanical engineer, Mr. Petersen was employed for most of his professional career at Sanders Associates in Nashua and Manchester, N.H. and Instron Corporation in Canton, Mass. While at Sanders from 1959 to 1977, he was the inventor on several patents related to hydraulic fluid control valves and honored as inventor of the month in January 1968. He spent the rest of his career applying his engineering expertise to material testing equipment as an employee of Instron Corporation, retiring in 1997 as director of engineering.

He is survived by his wife Jane (Harahan) Petersen of Jupiter, Fla. Family members include three sons and daughters-in-law, David Petersen and Wendy Wood of Greensboro, N.C., Jeffrey and Kathrine Petersen of Griswold, Conn., and James and Alison Petersen of Eliot, Maine; two daughters and a son-in-law, Jeanne Herrick of Concord, N.H. and Martha and Steven Sareault of Milford, N.H.; two stepsons, James and Katherine Moentmann of Round Hill, Va. and John Foxwell of Portland, Or., and two stepdaughters Jennifer and Christopher Kiwus of Radford, Va., and Carolyn and Scott Frances of Jupiter, Fla.; 20 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Mr. Petersen was predeceased by his brothers, John Petersen and Frederick Petersen.

SERVICES: A burial service will take place on March 25th at South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, Florida. A celebration of his life will be at a later date in New Hampshire.