John Alan ‘Pete’ Raitanen

Published 8:00 pm Monday, April 18, 2016

Ketchikan, Alaska

Jan. 11, 1945 — March 20, 2016

John Alan (Pete) Raitanen, 71, was born Jan. 11, 1945, in Astoria, Oregon, to Edwin John and Mary Frances Jorgusen Raitanen. He died March 20, 2016, at his childhood home in Seaside, Oregon, following a long battle with cancer.

Pete graduated from Seaside High School in 1963, and worked many years at the Crab Broiler restaurant to help put himself through college. He attended Clatsop Community College and Oregon State University, graduating with a degree in chemical engineering.

In 1968 he married Linda Schlappi, and they moved to Ketchikan, Alaska, immediately following college graduation in 1969. Pete started working as a chemical engineer in the lab of the Ketchikan Pulp Mill, where he continued working at various positions in the mill until 1998, over a year after the mill closed.

After retirement, he and Linda traveled to visit family and friends and to see more of the world. Highlights were a trip to New Zealand, and several cruises to tropical destinations. Trips to Florida to visit longtime friends Dave and Louis Weis, and trips to Port Aransas, Texas, with children and grandchildren, were also memorable.

Pete enjoyed boating, fishing, clamming, crabbing and making firewood. He also enjoyed cooking and spending time with his grandchildren. He could cook without a recipe, tell children’s stories as he made them up and play the saxophone and piano by ear.

He is survived by his wife, Linda, of Ketchikan; daughter, Kristin St. Pierre (Simon) of San Antonio, Texas; son, Eric Raitanen (Karen) of Grand Rapids, Minnesota; grandchildren, Grant, Cameron and Addison of San Antonio and Lauren, Griffin and Anna of Grand Rapids; sisters, Jean Dennon (Jack) and Joanne Erickson (Allan) of Seaside, and their children, Alex, Amanda and Anne Dennon and Julie and Liisa Erickson; and many cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Mary; nephew Andrew Dennon; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.