Lynn E. Petersen

Lynn E. Petersen, 65, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Cedar Rapids is assisting the family.

Lynn was born June 16, 1961, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Louis and Faynola (Lorton) Petersen. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1979 and continued his education at Waldorf College and Dana College, where he earned his bachelor's degree.

Baseball was one of the great passions of Lynn's life. It was much more than a sport he played; it was woven throughout his life and gave him some of his greatest accomplishments, memories, and lifelong friendships.

While attending Jefferson High School, Lynn played second base and also caught during his senior year. His teammates recognized not only his talent as a player but also his leadership, selecting him as co-captain his senior year.

Lynn also played American Legion baseball for the Cedar Rapids Hanford Post #5 Red team. In 1979, the team competed in the Iowa State American Legion Baseball Tournament and advanced to the American Legion regional tournament. Lynn played both outfield and second base and distinguished himself during the state tournament when he received the 1979 Earl Proctor Award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Following high school, Lynn continued his baseball career at Waldorf College, where he became the starting second baseman. He was part of an exceptional Waldorf baseball program and a 1981 team that finished with an outstanding 41 wins and only 7 losses, captured its fourth consecutive conference championship, and was nationally ranked No. 7 in the nation.

That remarkable 1981 Waldorf baseball team was later officially inducted into the Waldorf University Athletic Hall of Fame, an honor that recognized the accomplishments of a team and a group of teammates who remained incredibly important to Lynn throughout his life.

Lynn also received individual recognition for his talent and dedication to the game, earning the Waldorf College Golden Glove Award in 1980.

After graduating from Waldorf, Lynn continued his education at Dana College, where he earned his bachelor's degree and continued his collegiate baseball career playing second base. After completing college, Lynn returned home and continued playing the game he loved as a second baseman for Amana in the Iowa Valley League.

After returning home, Lynn's playing days were far from over. Over the years, he played on countless softball and fast-pitch teams, continuing the competition and camaraderie he loved. He also played in the Senior Baseball League, and in 2005, his team won the 38-and-over Wooden Bat Division championship. Whether it was college baseball, the Iowa Valley League, senior baseball, fast-pitch, softball, or eventually fantasy baseball, Lynn simply never stopped loving the game.

Lynn's love of baseball eventually took him from the field to the dugout when he served as an assistant baseball coach at LaSalle Catholic High School. It gave him the opportunity to share his knowledge, experience, and lifelong passion for the game with another generation of players.

The friendships Lynn formed through baseball were every bit as important to him as the accomplishments. He remained especially close with many of his Waldorf baseball teammates throughout his life. More than four decades after they first took the field together, those friendships endured. They had shared games, victories, defeats, bus rides and memories as young men, and over the decades they continued to share one another's lives.

Baseball remained part of Lynn long after his competitive playing days ended. He participated in numerous fantasy baseball leagues and never lost his love for the game.

But baseball was only one part of Lynn's story.

Lynn brought the same dedication, loyalty, and genuine interest in people to his professional life. He worked for the YMCA as a Youth and Adult Director, for Amana Refrigeration as an expediter and assistant buyer, at Lear Corporation, and ultimately at Collins Aerospace as a Senior Analyst.

No matter where Lynn worked or what position he held, one thing remained remarkably consistent: people loved working with him. Coworkers became friends, and many of those friendships lasted throughout his life. Former colleagues did not simply become people Lynn once worked with. They remained part of his life.

That was Lynn.

When he cared about someone, he stayed connected.

Lynn was kind, loving, fiercely loyal, and a devoted friend. Whether someone knew him from childhood, baseball, college, work, or one of the many other chapters of his life, friendship with Lynn was rarely temporary. He valued his relationships and continued them throughout his life.

And then there was Lynn's humor.

Without question, his incredible sense of humor was one of his greatest gifts and defining qualities. Lynn loved to laugh, but perhaps even more, he loved making other people laugh. His quick wit, storytelling, perfectly timed comments, and ability to find humor in almost any situation made ordinary moments memorable.

His humor brought people together. It was part of what made people want to be around him and one of the things his family and friends will miss most.

Sports continued to be an important part of Lynn's life. He was an avid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco 49ers, and Iowa Hawkeyes.

Football season also meant one of Lynn's favorite traditions. Thursdays were spent at Bushwood with his friends, where Lynn proudly served as commissioner of their fantasy football league. Between fantasy football, his many fantasy baseball leagues, drafts, conversations, jokes, and years of friendly competition, sports gave Lynn yet another way to remain connected to the people he loved.

Because for Lynn, it was never really just about sports.

It was about the people.

Lynn collected friendships everywhere he went - from Jefferson and American Legion baseball, to Waldorf and Dana, the Iowa Valley League, senior baseball, softball and fast-pitch, and LaSalle, and throughout his professional career at the YMCA, Amana Refrigeration, Lear Corporation, and Collins Aerospace.

People wanted to remain in Lynn's life because Lynn made people feel that they mattered in his.

On September 20, 1986, Lynn married Nancy Ruggiero in Cedar Rapids. Together for 42 years and approaching their 40th wedding anniversary, Lynn and Nancy built a life grounded in love, friendship, loyalty, laughter, and simply enjoying being together.

They were rarely apart for more than a few days at a time, generally only when work required it. They gave one another the freedom to simply be themselves. Lynn let Nancy be Nancy, and Nancy let Lynn be Lynn. Through the celebrations, challenges, changes, and thousands of ordinary days that make up a marriage, they remained partners.

They would have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on September 20. Nancy had planned a special

surprise for Lynn to celebrate that milestone - a trip to Cooperstown, New York, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a destination perfectly suited to a man whose love of baseball had been part of nearly his entire life.

At the center of the life Lynn and Nancy built together was their daughter, Taylor.

Above the awards, championships, career accomplishments, and recognitions, being Taylor's father was among the most treasured roles of Lynn's life. His love for his daughter and his family was at the very center of who he was.

For Nancy and Taylor, the kindness, loyalty, love, and wonderful humor everyone else saw in Lynn were simply part of everyday life with him - the ordinary moments, inside jokes, traditions, conversations, laughter, and memories that made up their life together.

Lynn accomplished much during his 65 years, but his true legacy cannot be found on a resume, in a trophy case, or in a record book.

It can be found in the extraordinary number of people who called him a friend. It can be found in teammates who remained close more than four decades after they first stepped onto a baseball field together. It can be found in coworkers who became lifelong friends. It can be found in the young baseball players with whom he shared his knowledge and love of the game.

It can be found around a table at Bushwood on a Thursday during football season, where there will forever seem to be someone missing.

And it can be found in every story that begins: "Remember when Lynn..." Inevitably, many of those stories will end in laughter.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts Lynn leaves behind. His humor made people laugh, his loyalty made them feel valued, his kindness made them feel welcome, and his friendship made them want to stay connected.

Lynn was an athlete and a coach. A teammate and competitor. A colleague and friend. A fantasy football commissioner and lifelong sports fan. A loving father and devoted husband. And he was incredibly funny.

Those who loved Lynn will carry his stories, humor, friendships, and love with them always. His life was not simply measured by the 65 years he lived, but by the lives he touched and the extraordinary number of people who loved him.

Lynn is survived by his wife, Nancy Ruggiero Petersen; daughter, Taylor Petersen; brother, Brian (Lynette) Petersen; many nieces and nephews; brother-in-law, Raymond T. Ruggiero Jr. and his wife, Mary; sister-in-law, Karen and her husband, Tim King; and his beloved dogs, Izzie and Stella.

He was preceded in death by his parents; father-in-law, Raymond K. Ruggiero Sr.; and mother-in-law, Darlene Ruggiero.