Taylor Petersen

Taylor Dwayne Petersen was born June 25, 1987, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. He died May 9, 2005, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. What happened in between was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Taylor lived his entire life in Wellington and had deep roots in the area and community. He attended Eyestone Elementary and Wellington Junior High School and was a senior at Poudre High School. He enjoyed raising horses on the family farm north of Wellington and participated in rodeo and gymkhanas as a youngster. In 1996, he won the Ted and Mabel Thompson Most Deserving Boy award at the Larimer County Fair. As he got older, his passion turned to fast cars, and he had dreams of building his own race car and had raced at the High School National Drag Races at Bandimere Speedway. Taylor loved school, if not schoolwork, and greeted each day with enthusiasm. Taylor was an amazing young man who touched many people's hearts in his short stay with us. He had a great sense of humor, character and charm that was apparent to everyone that knew him. He would want us all to take strength from this tragedy and learn that everyone is important and to hold on to those you love and those who love you. Taylor is survived by his parents, Ricci Petersen and Sheila Brewbaker, of Wellington, and Becky and Mark Muth, of Wellington; grandparents, Howard and Esta Petersen, of Wellington, Don and Joy Hartung, of Casper, Wyo., Betty Smith and Sid Batty, of Fort Collins, and Fred Smith, of Masonville; sisters, Blair, Charity and Deana; brothers, Jay, Justin, Sam, Dan, Peter and Mike; nephews, Trevor, Ryan, Jordan, D.J. and William; nieces, Alana and Natasha; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and uncountable friends who are now family. He will be missed greatly by all of us. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Taylor Petersen Memorial Fund in care of Cache Bank and Trust, 100 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80524.