Keith Peters Obituary

Keith was born to Hazel and Willard Peters in Seattle on All Saint's Day, November 1, 1945. In 1948 his parents bought Carter's Resort and the family moved to the mouth of the Sail River near Neah Bay. Here he spent his early life immersed in the sport salmon fishing industry. He attended school in Neah Bay until the 9th grade, when he and his sister started boarding out in Port Angeles to go to high school, first with the Shideler family and later with the Wendel family. After graduating from high school Keith went to Washington State University for 2 years and then to the University of Washington to finish his degree in Oceanography.

Keith's commercial fishing career began by trolling on his brother's boat, the Acadia, for a summer, before returning to college at Central Washington University to look into a teaching career.

In 1969 he joined the Coast Guard and was sent to officers' training school and then served on the Coast Guard boat, Confidence, out of Kodiak. Later he was stationed in Long Beach, CA. In 1971 he was discharged from the Coast Guard and got a small, gas-powered troller named the Alice which he fished off Washington until he got the F/V Falcon.

In 1974 Keith married Martha Wendel and they fished the Falcon for several years before Keith had the F/V Jaeger built by the Little Hoquiam Boat Shop. They fished off the Washington coast until the Boldt decision came down and cut the Washington salmon season dramatically. Then Keith took the boat to Alaska and fished out of Sitka. During two winters of these early years, he apprenticed with Glen Peters (no relation) to build two houses. When his boys were 4 and 6 years old the whole family came aboard and fished for the summers. Keith was an ambitious fisherman but tried to balance the work with some time ashore in remote bays fishing for trout or dolly varden. Salmon was the mainstay of fishing at first, but later longlining for halibut and black cod became more important.

Keith was an excellent critical thinker and problem solver. He was always an avid hunter-gatherer and loved camping and hunting for deer and elk with his extended family in the Blue Mountains of SE Washington. He was invariably generous with his time, his know how, and the fruits of his hunting-gathering. Since his retirement from commercial fishing, he could be found in the Blue Mountains in the fall and fishing or crabbing off Freshwater Bay during the summer months. He loved to spend summer evenings with his family and neighbors around a campfire, barbecuing a salmon, and telling stories about hunting or fishing.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Hazel and Willard Peters, and by son, Lars Peters.

Keith is survived by his wife, Marty, son, Ben (Bonnie), grandsons, Cameron and Finn, sister, Gail Hinderer, and brothers, Stanley and David, nieces, Karla Richardson, Kyne Jensen, Raechel Allen, Tess Wendel, and Hannah Wendel, nephews, Wallace Hinderer, Darryl Peters, Arthur Wendel and Reed Wendel.