Scotty Lee Peterson

Our beloved father, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend Scott Peterson went home to be with the Lord on September 3, 2021. While he is enjoying a happy family reunion now, we are left to honor and cherish the memories which were made during his earthly life. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Scott moved from Johnson City, Tennessee to Lexington, North Carolina with his mother, father, and siblings in 1960. He attended Lexington City Schools. At fifteen, Scott started working at The Old Hickory BBQ for Joe and Paul Cope. This is where his love for people took root. It is also the beginning of a lifetime career in the restaurant business. In 1977, tragedy struck the Peterson household. Noah Peterson, their patriarch, was killed in a hunting accident. The family’s lives were turned upside down. It was their mother, Wanda’s faith which pushed them through to the other side of this tragic loss. Scott was working at Wagner Tire Services at the time of his father’s death. Over the years following his death, Foyle “Big Wag” Wagner became a father figure to Scott. Their friendship lasted for many years. Wagner Tire was a wonderful place for Scott to find healing from the loss of his father, but the restaurant world was where he belonged. His new family was starting to grow, and he knew he had to provide for his family. He started out as a manager in the Shoney’s corporation working in Thomasville and Winston Salem restaurants. Years followed and he switched to selling restaurant equipment in Winston Salem. He went on to go into a partnership in a sport bar called the End Zone also in Winston Salem. However, he was the happiest in a restaurant, so he became a District Manager with Freeway Foods. In the autumn years of his life, Scott returned to his first love, barbecue by helping out in different barbeque restaurants in Lexington and Salisbury. And then his health began to decline. Scott stopped going to work. He took up wood working. When he wasn’t woodworking, he was hanging out at local restaurants but on the other side of the counter now. Scott had his favorite restaurants and his favorite tables. He would sit for hours enjoying the company of the owners and their patrons. Fishing, this man loved to fish. Any kind of fishing would do. Deep sea, surf, or pier, it did not matter to him. Topsail, North Carolina was his coastal fishing hole. Scott also had his favorite local fishing hole which he frequented often. Even in his last months he managed to make a trip to Topsail along with a trip to his special local spot. Scott loved the thrill of the catch, but it really wasn’t about the abundance of the catch, it was about the company he was fishing with that mattered the most. It was the laughter shared while on or at the water. It gave him peace. It gave him enjoyment and it gave him love. These were the things he lived for. Moments to share with his family, be they blood related or extended, family was what mattered. It was Scott’s faith in God, a faith his mother had birthed in him, that gave him his greatest peace and confidence. It guided him through the storms he endured as a parent. He led him through his personal struggles with his own demons. It gave him hope when everything around him looked hopeless especially during the loss of his son. Scott’s faith was unwavering. His love for God pushed him to do what was right and held his family together, no matter what. We are all flawed people in some way or another. Scott was no exception. He walked with God with Grace by his side everyday of his life. Everyday he strived to be a better dad, uncle, brother, cousin, and friend. But he was already the best to those who loved him. Scott was preceded in death by his parents; one son, Dustin Peterson; one brother, Wayne Peterson; and two sisters, Shirley Peterson and Sandra Zudonyi. Surviving is his wife, Jackie Cannon Ellis Peterson of the home; two sons, James Peterson of Thomasville and Matthew Peterson of Lexington; one daughter, Leah Peterson of Lexington; one brother, Danny Peterson of Lexington; two sisters, Carolyn DeFoe of Minnesota and Bobbiesue Henson of Lexington; two nephews, Noah Peterson and Jacob Henson; and one niece, Jessica Barnhill.