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IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Peter Van
Yurgensen
November 18, 1943 – May 15, 2017
Obituary
Graveside services for Peter Van Yurgensen, 73, of Livingston, Texas, will be held Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. in the Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas. Funeral procession will leave the Cochran Funeral Home in Livingston, Texas at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2017 going to the Houston National Cemetery. Those not able to make the procession can meet at the Houston National Cemetery at 10:45 a.m.
Peter Van Yurgensen 73, of Onalaska, Texas passed away at home on May 15, 2017.
Peter was born November 18, 1943 in Houston, TX as the son of Earl Peter Yurgensen and Florence Elizabeth Dobson. He grew up in Houston in the Spring Branch area where he graduated from Spring Branch High School in 1961. He did a lot of interesting things in his life, but the one he was probably most proud of was entering the Marines right out of High School. He was one of 250 chosen to be a part of the group now known as Force Recon. He was in the first contingent. He was a pretty bad ass dude. He was sent to Cuba for the missile crisis and then went to Southeast Asia where he was a part of a highly classified, multi service, special ops unit which conducted covert, unconventional warfare operations. He didn't talk about that time much, but was a part of the group for two years prior to the first official U.S. troops of the Vietnam War arriving in country. After leaving SE Asia, he and his team ran clandestine missions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and several countries in Africa before he was discharged.
After the Marine Corps, he graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville with a degree in business. After a long career in finance, he retired from Texas Instruments when he took a parachute retirement package at the ripe old age of 48. He didn't really retire as he and his wife – Rae - moved to Oklahoma to run a cattle ranch. He also worked/volunteered for various Texas and Oklahoma law enforcement agencies and even helped the Mennonites build their house. He probably worked harder during that time than when he had a full time job. Eventually, he moved back to Huntsville and then to the Lake Livingston area. He lived an amazing life. He saw things that the rest of us could only imagine while he was in the Marines and continued his exploring later in his life as an avid Harley rider and spent every summer with a group of his friends riding to various parts of the country on their bikes. He was also a 32° Mason and was affiliated with the Allen Lodge # 1435 where he was a Past Master. Whether it was bull-riding in his youth, sleeping in the jungle in Asia, working in corporations, herding cattle, or riding his Harley on the open road, you could always count on Pete living life to its fullest. He will be missed by many.
Peter is survived by his wife, Rae Nita Reichelt Yurgensen, his daughter Tonya Yurgensen-Jacks and her husband Kevin Jacks of Houston, brother-in-law Ted Reichelt of Portland, OR and nieces Rory Reichelt of Manhatten, KS and Risa Reichelt of Kodiak, Alaska and niece Elizabeth LaGravier Rightnower of Rolla, MO. Peter is preceded in death by his parents and his sister.
In lieu of flowers, the family would request donations in Pete's memory be made to the Semper Fi Fund or the Patriot Guard Riders (whom he rode with for a time). He would also like his friends to not be sad about his passing but to toast his amazing life with a really expensive good scotch. Pete Yurgensen has left the building.
Cochran Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Please sign our online guestbook at www.cochranfh.com.
Peter Van Yurgensen 73, of Onalaska, Texas passed away at home on May 15, 2017.
Peter was born November 18, 1943 in Houston, TX as the son of Earl Peter Yurgensen and Florence Elizabeth Dobson. He grew up in Houston in the Spring Branch area where he graduated from Spring Branch High School in 1961. He did a lot of interesting things in his life, but the one he was probably most proud of was entering the Marines right out of High School. He was one of 250 chosen to be a part of the group now known as Force Recon. He was in the first contingent. He was a pretty bad ass dude. He was sent to Cuba for the missile crisis and then went to Southeast Asia where he was a part of a highly classified, multi service, special ops unit which conducted covert, unconventional warfare operations. He didn't talk about that time much, but was a part of the group for two years prior to the first official U.S. troops of the Vietnam War arriving in country. After leaving SE Asia, he and his team ran clandestine missions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and several countries in Africa before he was discharged.
After the Marine Corps, he graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville with a degree in business. After a long career in finance, he retired from Texas Instruments when he took a parachute retirement package at the ripe old age of 48. He didn't really retire as he and his wife – Rae - moved to Oklahoma to run a cattle ranch. He also worked/volunteered for various Texas and Oklahoma law enforcement agencies and even helped the Mennonites build their house. He probably worked harder during that time than when he had a full time job. Eventually, he moved back to Huntsville and then to the Lake Livingston area. He lived an amazing life. He saw things that the rest of us could only imagine while he was in the Marines and continued his exploring later in his life as an avid Harley rider and spent every summer with a group of his friends riding to various parts of the country on their bikes. He was also a 32° Mason and was affiliated with the Allen Lodge # 1435 where he was a Past Master. Whether it was bull-riding in his youth, sleeping in the jungle in Asia, working in corporations, herding cattle, or riding his Harley on the open road, you could always count on Pete living life to its fullest. He will be missed by many.
Peter is survived by his wife, Rae Nita Reichelt Yurgensen, his daughter Tonya Yurgensen-Jacks and her husband Kevin Jacks of Houston, brother-in-law Ted Reichelt of Portland, OR and nieces Rory Reichelt of Manhatten, KS and Risa Reichelt of Kodiak, Alaska and niece Elizabeth LaGravier Rightnower of Rolla, MO. Peter is preceded in death by his parents and his sister.
In lieu of flowers, the family would request donations in Pete's memory be made to the Semper Fi Fund or the Patriot Guard Riders (whom he rode with for a time). He would also like his friends to not be sad about his passing but to toast his amazing life with a really expensive good scotch. Pete Yurgensen has left the building.
Cochran Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Please sign our online guestbook at www.cochranfh.com.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Peter Van Yurgensen, please visit our flower store.
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