Political Quotes

“I rise today to pay one final tribute to Gary Petersen, a close friend and devoted public servant who recently passed away. Gary's devotion to the Tri-Cities was unparalleled, with his work covering everything from our national security, to environmental cleanup, to the growing and evolving missions of the Hanford Site and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory--PNNL--in my home State of Washington. This certainly isn't the first time I have spoken in honor of Gary. He was a Washingtonian through and through, raised in Okanogan County before serving in the military and eventually attending my alma mater, Washington State University. He went on to work for more than five decades in the Tri-Cities before retiring in 2017, and over the years, I had the great pleasure of working with Gary time and time again. In 1965, Gary landed his first job out of college at Battelle, and he couldn't have had better timing--Battelle had just won a contract to operate a major research and development laboratory at the Hanford Site, which is now known as PNNL. Gary was truly in on the ground floor, working in communications and handling other tasks including leading tours of the Hanford Site, which eventually became his specialty. Whether he was showing around new employees, elected officials, or foreign dignitaries, Gary gave a tour of the sprawling 580-square-mile site that is still unsurpassed.…”