Nolan Royce Petersen

Nolan Royce Petersen, age 92, passed away peacefully at Chancellor Gardens in Layton, Utah, on November 3rd, 2025.

He was the ninth of ten children born to Wilford C. and Lillian Foote Petersen on April 8th, 1933, in Ferron, Utah. In 1937, his family moved to Mesa, Arizona, where he attended Mesa Public Schools and graduated from Mesa High School in 1951. After high school, from 1953 to 1955, Nolan served in the Central States Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He attended both Brigham Young University and Arizona State University, where he graduated in 1957 with a BA in Chemistry.

He married Colleen O’Barr in the Mesa, Arizona Temple in November 1957. Together they had five beautiful daughters. Nolan entered the Air Force in 1957 and retired in 1982 as a Lieutenant Colonel, after 24 years of service. During his time in the Air Force, he was in charge of the supervision and management of nuclear weapons and won two medals and an Honors Award. As a military family, they moved often, with some of their favorite overseas adventures in Okinawa, Japan and Stuttgart, Germany.

Nolan and Colleen divorced in 1994, and he later married Suzanne Wynn in 1998. Nolan enjoyed playing and teaching the piano. In his later years, he delighted many by playing in several senior centers in and around Layton, Utah. He loved to sing and entertain, and many times he would break out into song. A lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Nolan served in many callings. He enjoyed teaching the gospel, being a choir director, and leading and playing the music. He and Suzanne enjoyed serving in both the Seattle and Ogden Temples. Nolan dearly loved his parents and nine siblings and outlived them all. He was preceded in death by his daughter Lori in 2012.

There will be a graveside burial with military honors for Nolan, on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at Lindquist’s Memorial Park at Layton, located at 1867 N. Fairfield Rd, Layton, Utah.