Roger M. Pederson

Roger M. Pederson, 64, longtime Warden resident, passed away Friday, Feb. 6, 2009, at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 14, at the First Baptist Church in Warden. Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel and Crematory, Moses Lake.

You may sign the guest book or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com

Roger was born July 13, 1944, in Longview, Wash., son of the late Melvin E. and Gladys M. (Hodgen) Pederson. Roger was raised on the family homestead in Longview where he spent all but five of his childhood years. In the 1950s, the family moved to Ketchikan, Alaska, then returned to Longview where Roger graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1962. He then attended mechanics school in Portland, Ore., returning to Longview to work as a mechanic. In 1968 he moved to Moses Lake and began working at the U & I Sugar Plant. He was married to Nita L. Parrish on May 22, 1975, in Warden. Following their marriage he worked at Warden Welding and then for 15 years at El Oro feed lot. For the past nine years he was employed as a mechanic for Blue Bird Orchards Inc., near Othello. He and Nita established The Painted Two horse ranch that kept them busy raising, training and boarding horses. They worked side by side on their ranch for nearly 30 years.

Roger had an uncanny ability to fix literally anything. If there was something broken or not working, whether it was in the house, on the ranch or at work, he was the one called and within a short time he would have it running again.

Roger was a member of the Grant County Horseman’s Association.

He is survived by his loving wife, Nita Pederson, who lives at the ranch in Warden; four children and spouses: Teresa and Hazen Barnard, Moses Lake; DeWayne and Kathryn Wilson, Tumwater, Wash.; Mike Pederson, Warden; Roger Lee and Jean Pederson, Ephrata; one brother and sister-in-law, Allen “Pete” and Danni Pederson, Kalama, Wash.; one sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Les Gilbert, Monroe, Wash.; five grandchildren, two great-grandsons and several nieces and nephews.

A son, Keith Pederson, preceded him in death in 2005.