Pete Peterson
1931 – 2017
UNIVAC Computer Engineer, Carnarvon
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Pete Peterson plays the role of a flight controller for the NASA cameraman in this frame from March 1965 footage. He is seated at Carnarvon’s Gemini engineering console. |
LaVerne Robert Petersen was the Computer Engineer sent by UNIVAC to support the 1218 computer in the early days of Carnarvon.
A military veteran, before joining UNIVAC he had served in Korea as an Airman first class in the United States Air Force.
John Lambie takes up the story in his account of the Gemini Coffee Lounge –
“Pete Peterson from St. Paul, Minnesota was a Univac Engineer on-site to support the 1218 processor. He had come to Carnarvon directly from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where I believe the U.S. Military had established an ICBM base. …
Pete was your stereotypical Yank, with a strong nasal twang, and smoked a pipe and / or cigars (Old Dutch Masters). He was tall and sporty and got involved in the town basketball scene.
A likeable guy and, very soon after arriving in CRO, established a popular coffee spot near the Univac 1218 – with an electric coffee percolator, tins of Maxwell House ground coffee that was imported – and a toaster for crumpets (which were heavily coated with real maple syrup).
Pete was generous and invited anyone to join and partake. It became a very popular spot. For those of us still used to drinking coffee made from coffee and chicory syrup from a Robur bottle, the aroma and taste of real brewed coffee was intoxicating.
After the installation work was completed, there was a lull for months before the first mission was supported. With coffee and time for a natter, one subject discussed was the social infrastructure that Carnarvon lacked; a night club or lounge was discussed. The ideas were bandied about for some time and before long a partnership of Pete Peterson, John Nugent, Trevor Housley, and me was formed. We each contributed one thousand Pounds, and then searched for suitable premises to establish the Gemini Coffee Lounge.…”
(Read the full story of the Gemini Coffee Lounge.)
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In the Gemini Coffee Lounge, unpacking the two-handle coffee machine delivered from Perth. Pete Peterson (with pipe) stands at left, with John Nugent, Millar Lambie (builder and foreman), John Lambie (leaning over and unpacking of the coffee machine. Trevor Housley (on the floor in front of the machine). Photo: Trevor Housley. |
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John Nugent at the UNIVAC 1218 computer with Barbara King at the keyboard. Photo: Hamish Lindsay. Scan: Colin Mackellar. |
In a 2025 interview, Carnarvon’s Trevor Housley remembers,
“[This 1218 computer] was sitting there and it had a permanent UNIVAC representative looking after it. A guy called Laverne Robert Peterson. But nobody called him Laverne Robert Peterson. In fact, I think I might have been the only person who knew his name was Laverne Robert Peterson. He was called Pete Peterson.
And he was a typical Yank. He had lots of money because he was paid by Univac, and he had a big expense account, and he lived in the Canarvon Motel, which was a couple of kilometres out of town, on the way up to the tracking station. And he had an MGB … and he was a good guy.
He didn’t have a lot to do, because the computer was pretty reliable. It was a ruggedised computer, a military computer, which meant that it was the kind of thing that you could pick up with a crane and drop it one or two metres, and it would still continue to operate. And he decided he’d run a course on the operation, maintenance and programming of this computer, which he did. And I put my hand up for it, and I joined this course.“
Trevor completed the course with distinction –
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Trevor Housley with the UNIVAC course certificate signed by Pete Peterson and Station Director Lewis Wainwright. 2025 photo by Colin Mackellar. |
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The certificate. With thanks to Trevor Housley for the scan. |
John Lambie recalled:
“Pete Peterson became engaged to Beatrix (Vee) Hardman, Lewis Wainwright’s secretary.
There was a Carnarvon society wedding at the Buffs Hall. I provided my MG Magnette as the wedding car, and I think Hamish Lindsay was the official photographer.”
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John Lambie’s MG Magnette wasused as the wedding car. Transparency: John Lambie. Scan: Colin Mackellar. |
Indeed Hamish Lindsay was the official photographer –
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The Peterson wedding. Left to right: Pete and Vee Peterson, John Nugent, Vee’s sister Lynn, John Lambie and his fiancée Karin Krupavicius (aka Karin Krupa). Photo: Hamish Lindsay. Scan: Colin Mackellar. |
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Pete Peterson, John Lambie and John Nugent. Photo: Hamish Lindsay. Scan: Colin Mackellar. |
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Pete and Vee Peterson. Photo: Hamish Lindsay. Scan: Colin Mackellar. |
John Lambie remembered that “Pete returned to St Paul, in 1966.”. Apparently he and Vee were back in Australia the following year or so.
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L to R: Beatrix Peterson (nee Hardman), Lyn Nugent, Pete Peterson. John Nugent (back to camera). Taken at the Lambies’ new home in Karrinyup, circa 1967. Photo: John Lambie. |
In his later years, at least, Pete was in Bloomington, Minnesota, just south of Minneapolis. He died in June 2017, and was buried in the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, just south of the Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport.
He is survived by his “Aussie daughters” Junine and Jennifer and their families. He was preceded in death by his wife Vee, whom he met half a world away in dusty, remote Carnarvon.
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References:
Obituary published online by Legacy.