David loved and was very proud of his son Joe and dearly loved his granddaughter Abby, who he and his wife Kathy were raising as their daughter since shortly after her birth. He believed that he was put on this earth to raise children and took that role seriously. He was a father figure to many young people, including Kathy's adopted daughters Sara and Julie Shuck and to Julie's older sister Candice Enfante and her daughters Naomi and Lizzy. He found peace in the knowledge that he always did the best he could. 

He was a believer of the Urantia idealogy, that Jesus was the son of God, sent here as a human to show us a new revelation of God the Father and that, if you believed, you would be given another life and would remember this one. He took comfort in believing that he was going to be with his family and beloved wife after passing from this earth. 

David is survived by his son Joseph Allan Peterson of San Diego (recently of Arlington Tennessee), daughter/granddaughter Abigail "Abby" Melody Trieu, stepson Michael Timothy Denham of Peoria Arizona, a brother Donald Wayne Peterson of Vandalia Missouri, a nephew Jolson Leon (Courtney Danielle) Peterson of Bristol, Virginia and a niece Allison Marie Peterson of Raleigh, North Carolina. He also leaves behind his step daughters Sara and her husband Larry Wright, and Julie Shuck, as well as two other granddaughters Katelyn and Savannah Trieu and grandson Tahlya Wright.  David was predeceased by his mother in November 2002, his father in February 2008, and his brother Carl Allan Peterson, III in November 2015. 

 David's wife, Katherine Melody (Kaump) Peterson passed away June 3, 2021, just five months after David. They will be interred together near his parents at the Oak Hill Memorial Park and Cemetery in Escondido on their 15th wedding anniversary, October 21, 2021.