In-Memoriam: Nathan Peterson, BTh ’15

Portland Bible College is grieved to announce that alumnus Nathan Peterson, sadly and surprisingly passed away on July 12th, 2021.  His Celebration of Life will be this Friday, July 30th at 9:00am at the Mannahouse Church Rocky Butte sanctuary.

If you would like to attend online, here is the PBC Chapel, which will be streaming his memorial service live.  https://chapel.portlandbiblecollege.org

Nathan received his Bachelor’s degree in Theology at PBC in the Spring of 2015. He loved the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength and lived each day as unto Him. 

Nathan was born on November 20th, 1992 at St. Vincent’s Hospital on the west side of Portland.  Nathan attended grade school in the Westview school district until his Father accepted a job transfer to the east coast – specifically the New England area.   Nathan attended Cooperative Middle School in Stratham, NH and graduated from Exeter HS, in Exeter NH in 2011.  Nathan was always a good student and showed early interest in the medical field by taking classes outside of High School.  

He enjoyed sports and excelled at Wrestling, where he placed in state competitions and became the team captain his senior year.  Nathan also had interests in martial arts training in Muay Thai and MMA at a local club – you did not want to be on the receiving end of one of his kicks.  

Other interests included different languages for which Nathan became fairly proficient in Japanese and actually was able to take a trip to Japan.  Following High School, Nathan felt a calling to attend Portland Bible College where his Mother attended.   Nathan worked hard and earned his Bachelor of Theology in 2015 and became good friends with many local and international students, which allowed him to use his Japanese which he loved to practice.  

Following Portland Bible College, Nathan considered joining the Army as a chaplain but soon learned that was easier said than done as a lot of experience was required.   Nathan then set his sights on gaining that experience by contributing at some of the most demanding levels and signed up to become a combat medic in the 75th Ranger Regiment.  Nathan knew this was no easy task but once he set his sights he was very determined and we’re proud to say he achieved his goals to include passing Ranger school on the first attempt – again, no easy task.  Nathan used to tell his mom and dad some of the tough work and professionalism he seen while serving with the second battalion – it was easy to see how proud he was to serve with “his guys” as he’d say, and he’d do whatever it took to keep them safe and healthy.

Following Nate’s last deployment he considered continuing his education at George Fox university in Oregon at some point in the future. 

Nathan’s parents, Eric and Renee would like to thank everyone during this difficult time for the well wishes and assistance.  “Specifically  the US Army and 75th Ranger Regiment, Portland Bible College and Mannahouse Church – also Lincoln Memorial and Willamette National Cemetery.  All have done so much to assure Nathan is laid to rest with respect, dignity and appreciation for those he touched and served.  Nathan was a fun loving child and carried that through to adulthood – he never seemed to meet a stranger, especially as he got older.  Nathan would often pray with strangers as they just seemed to come up to him and start talking – we witnessed this on several occasions.   Although our loss is immeasurable at so many levels, it’s been comforting to see just how many lives are connected to a single person to include all of you, and to know he’s in Heaven. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank all of you for your support, caring and being in Nathan’s life.”