SPRING VALLEY, CA (May 7, 2014) — Retired Covenant pastor Alton Peterson, 85, died Monday, May 5. The service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 16 at Mount Miguel Covenant Village Bailey Center.
Peterson was born March 29, 1929, in Kingsburg, California, and grew up attending Kingsburg Covenant Church.
He earned an associate’s degree at Reedley College in Reedley, California, a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the University of California, and graduated from North Park Theological Seminary.
Alton married Christie Anderson on September 1, 1953. She survives.
He served Lake Norden, Spring Lake, and Laketon Covenant churches in South Dakota; First Covenant Church in Jamestown, New York; Evangelical Covenant Church in Simi Valley, California; Trinity Covenant Church in Salem, Oregon; Trinity Covenant Church in Rochester, New York; and Southwest Covenant Church in Jenison, Michigan. He also served as chaplain at Mount Miguel Covenant Village in Spring Valley, California.
In addition to his pastoral work, Alton did drug abuse counseling at clinics in Simi Valley and Salem. He served on the Board of Ministry and Board of Christian Education, as well as the executive boards of the Middle East Conference and Pacific Southwest Conference.
Survivors include a daughter, Sarah Svendsen; and a son, Daniel Peterson. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Marcia Peterson; and a son, Kurt Peterson.
