David Valdo Petter

David Valdo Petter, 91, passed away peacefully on August 2, 2025, in San Diego, California. Valdo was born March 18, 1934, in Lame Deer, Montana, to Valdo and Laura Petter. He had one brother, Daniel Petter, and three sisters, Amy Guerena, Amelia Old Crow, and Darlena Marceau. Valdo spent his first 19 years on and next to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, where he enjoyed the beautiful wide-open terrain with his friends. He was a great storyteller, recounting many bold adventures on horseback with childhood friends and on his own. Valdo went through a series of steps and decisions up to the age of about 11 years, leading him to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. He left Montana to attend Biola College in Los Angeles, California, and finished Seminary in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. Reverend Petter began his ministry career at a Baptist Church near Portland, and later spent nine years with the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society as a pastor in the suburbs of Paris, France. He attended the University of Paris for two years, 1966-1968, to learn French and French Cultural History. Later, Valdo managed educational programs under the University of Kansas, Eastern Montana College, and Rocky Mountain College. He pastored a Mennonite Church in Kansas in 1987-1988, and was associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, from 1989-1996. In retirement, he moved to Arizona, and later to the San Diego area. Valdo is survived by his wife Julane Petter and his children Roxanne (Mark) Garcia, Michelle (Jim) Crowley, and Stephanie (T.R.) Negri, their mother Karen Zarske, 6 grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. We take comfort in knowing he is at peace and surrounded by loved ones who went before him. A celebration of his life will take place in October in La Jolla Beach Cove, with loved ones, where he wished his ashes to be spread. If you have a favorite memory or photo of Valdo, please feel free to share on his obituary website the family has set up at https://www.aztlanmortuary.com/obituaries/. Thank you. Michelle Crowley