Douglas Peterson

Douglas Eugene Peterson, M.D., 69, formerly of Moline, died Feb. 26, 2017, in Salem, Ore.

Private family services have been held. Trimble Funeral Home, Moline, is assisting the family.

Doug was born Sept. 23, 1947, in Moline, to Barbara (Fry) Peterson and Eugene "Pete" Peterson, D.D.S. He attended Logan Elementary and Coolidge Junior High School and swam for Moline High School. He participated in the Moline Boys Choir, was a member of First Congregational Church and was an avid astronomer and guitarist. Doug was student body president at Cornell College and entered medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico. He transferred two years later to Rush Medical in Chicago, where he graduated with a medical degree in 1979. He began residency training at Harbor General Hospital UCLA Family Medicine in Torrance, Calif., and upon passing the medical boards in 1983, entered private practice in Inglewood. Concurrently, he served as a volunteer faculty member at Harbor General, becoming a full-time faculty member in 1985, participating fully in teaching residents, students and nurses.

Dr. Peterson played a major role in preserving the family medicine program at Harbor. Subsequently he joined the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., where after a time he was appointed Chief Medical Officer.

Following his service with the State Department, he spent several months in Jamaica, where he developed a primary care clinic, in which he also practiced. He occasionally enjoyed the company of William A. Hewitt, the U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, also of Moline, and former chairman of Deere & Co. He returned to the U.S. and founded a family medical practice in Inverness, Fla. In 2010, he moved from Florida to Oregon and joined the Oregon Health and Sciences University to practice in their family medicine program. At the time of his retirement, Dr. Peterson was employed as a family physician by the Oregon State Hospital in Salem.

He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Sandee and Jim Couch, Palm Desert, Calif.; and his nieces, Jamee and Geena, California, and their four children.

Condolences may be shared at TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.