Peters, Kenneth interview
Item
Title
Peters, Kenneth interview
Description
Talks about his family history in Fowler and relationship with his uncle, Leon S. Peters. He discusses how his father, Karnig and Leon purchased a ranch and started farming and how his uncle mentored him as a child. He talks about Leon S. Peters became involved in the Armenian American Citizens League and how he helped other immigrant Armenians. He discusses how Leon S. Peters broke barriers by being the first Armenian to buy a house on Van Ness Avenue and the first to join a country club. He talks about how the Leon S. Peters Foundation has carried on his legacy of giving back to the community.
Creator
Peters, Kenneth
Mehas, Dr. Peter G.
Relation
Leon S. Peters Legacy Collection
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
9/18/2009
Format
Microsoft Word 2003 document, 12 pages
Identifier
SCMS_lspl_00019
extracted text
[Silence]
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: We have the pleasure of interviewing Ken Peters, nephew
of the great Leon S. Peters, and even though the public persona is this legend,
which is well-deserved of Leon S. peters, you know him as Uncle Pete, as your
uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: No, Uncle Lee.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Uncle Lee. Uncle Lee. Thank you. Uncle Lee. And so what
we want, Ken, today is for us to -- for you to tell us about your uncle. What
are the things that you recall about it from the time you first were aware that
he was your uncle and growing up? And how was your relationship? So just start
in telling us about Uncle Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the first thing, it's impossible to tell you what I've
learned in 50 years or 60 years what my uncle did and, you know, in the time we
have this video. However, Uncle Lee was born in Fowler, California, in October
1905. My grandparents were immigrants from Armenia, and he was one of four boys
and one girl and he was the eldest. And everybody always looked up to Uncle Lee
as -- I call him the patriot of our family, the godfather, call him what you
want to call him, but he was the man. And Uncle Lee was 16, thereabouts, -- 1921
when my grandmother died. And she died of a -- I don't know what it was, but, if
they had better medical care, she would have lived a normal life. She was only
41 when she went.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Forty-one.
>> Kenneth Peters: Forty-one.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Now, was it your brother -- your father was Lee -- Leon
S. Peters' brother ->> Kenneth Peters: Yes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- was your father? Now what -- was it ->> Kenneth Peters: My dad was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Is number two.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee is the oldest. My dad, Karnig, was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Karnig.
>> Kenneth Peters: And my Aunt Melba was number three, and my Uncle Shorty or
Aram was number four, and my Uncle Pete was the baby.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete was six years old when his mother died.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Six years old.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I firmly feel that it was my grandmother's passing
without an immediate father, without a mother, and that's the reason why my
uncle is -- was interested in medical care. I think that was his entry into the
medical care, and I think that it was just, you know, that's part of the game.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So that really shaped -- the loss of his mother ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- at the age of six had a dramatic impact upon his
development and his persona and involvement with the health care industry, which
we will talk about later on, Community Hospital ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and the legacy he built there. So tell us about
growing up with Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the other thing about Uncle Lee that I want to tell you
about is when he graduated from high school, ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Fowler High?
>> Kenneth Peters: Fowler High, he wanted to go to college, and I think he
wanted to be an attorney. That's what I've heard. And my grandfather had no
future for -[Inaudible]
>> Kenneth Peters: -- further education.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Oh, for the education.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so my uncle -- I guess he really cried. He wanted to go
to school and they wouldn't let him go to school. He was going to be a farmer.
So it was -- that's the way it went in those times. And so shortly after that,
my dad and my Uncle Lee bought their first ranch, and it was Peters Brothers
ranch at that time -- whatever, have you. Of course, you know, Uncle Lee was
well read. Well, he was a student. The only thing he never had was that piece of
paper from the university. It didn't hurt him at the time. I'm sure he was able
to make lemonade out of lemons.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I really think that, that's part of his background, for
his educational part of him. That's why he was so interested in education,
because he was denied it. Growing up, my uncle was a real neat kind of a guy. Of
course, we all looked up to him, as I said, and we would have to sit down and
we'd go visit him, see him, he'd mentor us. He had no children of his own. There
was ten of us, and he treated each one of us like his own. And most of the time,
especially, when there was questions, we wouldn't get the answer. We went to him
for, -- I guess, it wasn't sympathy. We'd walk out of there hanging our heads
real low, and say why did we even bother to come here. But we always did what he
told us, and that's the way it was.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was a mentor, not only to lots of other people, but
to you at your early age.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, very much so. I was very -- I always felt that I'm very,
very fortunate I had somebody I could talk to in that respect. I would go and
sit down and talk to him, and I only know what happened to the outcome. He had a
way -- he never really raised his voice. He never really got real mad, but he
had a way of making you feel real bad, in his own way [laughter]. I can always
remember one time we were -- I went to his office, and my uncle's really beating
himself up because he had to give a speech in San Diego, and he was going to go
to give a speech the next day in Phoenix, and so he was trying to get through to
Los Angeles airport and airlines and this and that and the other thing. I told
him, I said, why don't you just charter an airplane and go. He got up and he
started to close the door and he sat down. And I'll tell you what, 20 minutes
later -- I've never asked that question again, never. He said, we don't waste
money like that. We don't do this. Nobody flies First Class. Nobody does this.
Nobody does that. Never again did I ask him about chartering an airplane
[laughter].
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was a fiscal conservative.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was very, very conservative in his own way. He lived good.
He wasn't a pauper, by all means. But there was time when Auntie Alice -- it was
either a dishwasher or one of her washing machines broke in their house. It was
an old house. And instead of going ahead and replacing it, he saw to it that it
got fixed. He wasn't going to buy a new one, and that's the way he was there.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think was the impetus for his philanthropy,
you know, he was very modest, very poor, I mean, upbringing, in the sense of
financially, but then became very successful, but yet, you know, if you
basically were fiscally conservative but yet he gave so much money to so many
organizations. What was that do you think that nurtured that, that feeling of
giving back to the community and giving that?
>> Kenneth Peters: I just think it was his bringing up without very much and his
love for the community. He was a very patriotic type of person. He was the kind
of the guy that he had an American flag out in front of his building all the
time. And World War II came along and he turned his plant into a war production
plant where they made parts for navy, if I'm not mistaken.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right, correct.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah. So he turned his plant into that. So you can see him
very patriotic. When he was a young guy, maybe in his early twenties, his big
impetus at that point was Armenian American Citizens League, and what he would
do, would help other people, immigrants. He would teach them this and he would - teachers, and he translated everything so they could all become citizens, and
that was very important to him, which was good. And he helped all these people
from foreign country assimilate into the American ways. So this was what my
uncle’s thing was in those days.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Isn't it interesting how patriotic he was and yet, when
he grew up, Armenians were discriminated against in Fresno County. And so it
could have been very easy for him to be very cynical and very non-patriotic,
but, instead he was very.
>> Kenneth Peters: You know, I'll tell you what, he was the kind of a guy -- and
I didn't understand it – I always figured that if you don't like me, you don't
like me; that's all there is to it, but he wasn't that way. Because his house
where he lives on Van Ness Extension, he was the first Armenian to live in that
area. Why did he want to live there? I don't know. He was the first Armenian to
join a country club, that didn't like Armenians. And I'm looking at this, and
that was my uncle. And so he did all these things. And I'm happy that he did it.
I'm quite glad that he did but he didn't have to.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He paved the way probably for lots of other people that
would have never got that opportunity.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he opened doors. He opened doors for not only
Armenians, but many of the other minority groups that would have never probably
been accepted to the country club or been able to buy a home in a certain
neighborhood.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, this is true. And I wish more people today would do
this, but such we see this all the time. And they'll sit in one section and this
is us and this is us. You're no different. I mean, they still have bones and
blood like we do.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or everybody else is all the same.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Did
unique sense of humor. But
so godlike and stern-like.
sometimes -- he said, Leon
he have a sense of humor? I thought he had a very
I'd see him smile -- because he always looked, maybe,
When I talk to your Uncle Pete, he tells me, he says
says things, boy, people listened --
>> Kenneth Peters: That's.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --and he had this aura about him. But did you ever notice
that he had a sense of humor?
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee would be most happy -- I think, when the babies
were around, I could always seem him, had a big smile on his face. He loved to
smoke cigars, in those days. And he played Santa Claus at our house. It was at a
family reunion. We had Christmas Eve at our house and us kids we'd all open
presents. Well, Uncle Lee was the Santa Claus, and we'd always have to wait for
him to smoke the cigar before we could open presents. And so he'd sit down -and I swear he had the biggest cigar in the world, and so that was -- and he'd
get on his knees and when he'd see the little people, they'd always smile and
he'd always be happy and go lucky. He was a very formal type of person.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And there was times I'd go to his house -- you go to his
house on a Sunday afternoon and he'd be sitting in his chair with his white
shirt and tie on, sitting at home reading the paper and ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What were the signs if you knew sometimes that he was
upset? Because you're right. Many people have said he was quiet. He never seemed
to raise his voice. But when did you, when did you know, he’s sort of serious
and he's really ->> Kenneth Peters: When Uncle Lee was most serious when you knew you were in
trouble --
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- is when we used to walk up to his office and sit down and
talk to him. But when he'd say stand up and close the door, oh, my God and sit
down and you were in for trouble.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew you were in the principal's office, huh?
>> Kenneth Peters: Big time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Big time.
>> Kenneth Peters: And, in fact, one time I've got to say one thing is shortly
after my dad passed away, there was a Haigazian College fundraiser and Dad
always looked forward to everything Uncle Lee did, I mean, this was it. And Dad
passed away in June and this fundraiser in July and they were involved in it and
everything and I was the bartender, one of the bartenders. Well, there's one
drink for you, one drink for me, one drink for you, one drink for me. And so
apparently, they flew this President of this university in Beirut over there,
and so Uncle Lee brings him up and he's going to be introducing him to Kenneth.
Well, I was, bad shape, very bad; so I didn't say no more. I guess I embarrassed
the devil out of him. So I'll never forget, I walked into his office, he stood
up that day, he put his hand on my shoulder and he looked in my eyes and he
says, Kenneth, -- well, that was the ultimate. They always call me Butch, you
know, that's -- and.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew.
>> Kenneth
And do you
what, so I
And I just
two drinks
Peters: Yeah. He said, do you have a problem? What's your problem?
need help? Do you need this? Do you need that? Well, I'll tell you
told him -- it was -- I was wrong. There's no question about that.
told him. But, you know, the rest of his life he never saw me with
in my body, more, never.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think, you know, from a family perspective,
here you have an uncle that really did rise to such a level not only because it
is business success and not only because of his philanthropy, but because of
his, his values and his ethics, why do you think people, in terms of -- elevated
him to such status?
>> Kenneth Peters: I think they probably elevate him to the status because he
earned it. I really feel that way. I mean, they -- he did stuff and people
respected him and, you know, it was kind of this way. I really feel that way. I
don't think anybody gave him anything that he didn't deserve, if that's the
right thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure. In terms of the family, the family has been very
much involved and perpetuate, you know, I look at Pete Peters Foundation, Leon
S. Peters Foundation, all of your involvement in continuing that legend of
philanthropy. How is it that as you begin that culture that Pete started or
rather Leon started in the community has been perpetuated -- did you all catch
on to it?
>> Kenneth Peters: No basically, what it was -- and I've given a copy to Tammy
Lau of his original thing. I gave it the other day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was in his will that he's left a Foundation and that his
desires were education, medical, his culture. He left a series of things and he
wanted to be continued. And at that time there was a board, it was basically
Auntie Alice, and his Uncle Pete -- and we were kind of rubber stamps, if that's
the right word. We were over there doing this stuff. And thank God for Uncle
Pete because Uncle Pete turned it into a business. Uncle Pete grew the
Foundation, made it into an absolute business and that's what it was. And we
were -- and we got chosen to be on the Board, which I'm very proud of. We get no
pay or nothing else for it. I mean, there's -- we could even get a basketball
ticket out of the Foundation. I'm serious.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's what it was. And so there's a board and he was a
legacy and this is what his wishes were, and we're trying to be the best
stewards that we know how to perpetuate what he started.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I was telling Bud Richter and some of the members of the
committee, I think you were there the other day about having my grandchildren in
town ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and we were visiting the zoo. We were visiting the
Metropolitan Museum. And even as four year olds, we begin to say gee, this Leon
has Pete Peters Foundation, they must have been pretty important people. And
anywhere you go in this community, not only in this community, but, I guess, in
terms of the Armenian College and other areas, because I guess the limits were
not only to this area, but to other, outside the area as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was done to other areas as well, however, the main impetus
is Fresno; Fresno, this local area. And it's not to help any one person, ethnic
group, or any of that kind of stuff, it's the hardest thing to do is to find
where you can help everybody. It doesn't matter who you are. And I don't like
people making profits you know, stuff like that would.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Of course.
>> Kenneth Peters: And we paint a very nice town of this. We're making it better
all the time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You certainly have.
>> Kenneth Peters: And it's, you know, you look at the college, it's nice. I
look at the high school or look at libraries and Fowler especially or here at
the college and we start looking at the River Park. I don't know. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Certainly.
>> Kenneth Peters: And the zoo. And it helps everybody who comes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: At the end of the day, there's lots of people have
learned, as you said, he was your mentor, but, if you had to sort of pick one or
two things that had the greatest impact upon your life because of Uncle Lee,
what would probably be the thing that would stand out? And I know this is a
difficult question. But probably.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Lee taught me three words, and I didn't know what
he says at the time, and I studied them. He says, honesty, integrity, and
service.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Honesty, integrity, and service.
>> Kenneth Peters: And those were my uncle's -- they came out of his mouth. I
mean, I didn't know what it meant at the time. I went home and I'm reading this
thing. What is -- what's he saying and I figured it out. And of course, him
being a Rotarian, everything on the Rotary Creed was very high to him. Because,
I know when I was in his office and there were times I was in there, and he was
upset with some of the wine makers or somebody like that, he would say I told
him, what about the Rotary Creed, and the guy was saying that doesn't apply to
this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, actually Leon's life sort of did model the
Rotary Creeds.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Service above self.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, is it fair to all concerned, and you go down
there -- and you're right, he could have written that Rotary Creed.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's the way he lived his life. Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. Let's take just a second and I'll let you look at
his [speaking simultaneously].
>> Kenneth Peters: No. I've done pretty good. Yeah. There's only one other thing
that I was going to tell you.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: You can cut and paste.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay. We will.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or delete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I doubt that we want to delete much of this.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, anyway, my uncle was not isolated from any one
individual. It didn't matter who you were, what you were, or what walk of life
you came in. He talked to them. I know that through the Foundation -- I mean,
some minister came in and said something about his church and so Uncle Lee
painted his church, and we still donate, you know, keep the church going. And I
think that was great. And we had a worker working for us and he was kind of like
our babysitter. He worked for my dad before they got married. And he was
alcoholic. And when he put his black hat on, he'd get, you know, he was on a
drunk. But one day he had something he was going to vent. I don't know what he
did. So he went to Uncle Lee's office and he walked in and he sat down and
vented his things. And Uncle Lee got up and looked at him and Uncle Lee filled
his pocket full of cigars -- this guy's cigars. And this guy comes walking in
our house and said, I went and saw Leo, he gave me cigars. And he sobered up,
went back to work. It was his -- that was my uncle.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was accessive of people -- he was accessible to all
kinds of folks.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was accessible to all people. Even -- he usually had his
door open. Very seldom he had his door closed. And [inaudible] his door open and
he was on the telephone. Sit down. But that's the way he was to everybody. It
just wasn't me.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Is there anything I should have probably asked you
that I didn't ask you, that any last sort of thoughts on Uncle Lee?
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, my uncle was a perfectionist. He managed everything
nice. And he and my dad were partners on a farm for their entire life.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The entire?
>> Kenneth Peters: Entire life. It was Peters Brothers Ranch.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: Dad stayed on the farm and Uncle Lee went over there. And
actually, Uncle Shorty stayed on the farm and Uncle Pete went over to the
Foundry too. So there was two partnerships, really. And we'd have to have
everything just spit shined and perfect. I mean, everything was out there,
because you never knew when Uncle Lee was going to bring his friends out and
show them our farms.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And just -- so we always had to have everything in tip-top
shape for my uncle so we wouldn't embarrass him.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What was it about agriculture that helped really shape
his, not only his business philosophy, but that ag background of -- because he
initially, you know, he grew up and that's how he begin to, I think, you know,
as a salesman sell ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- ag implements.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, when he and Dad were on the farm, there wasn't enough
money for two bachelors so Uncle Lee went and got a job, worked for Mr. Keithly
->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- at Valley Foundry and then that was a losing proposition.
And so my uncle had foresight, lots of foresight.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He really was a visionary.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yes. Because he worked for Keithly, and Keithly wanted to
sell it, or close it down or something. And Uncle Lee said, let me manage it.
And when I make a profit, I'll buy it from you. So, Uncle Lee worked for no
salary. He had his own car. He went for five years managing that place and
finally showed a profit, and he bought it from Keithly and the rest is history.
But I guess that was his niche. He had a foresight, you know. Of course, a lot
of times, times came along and the end of prohibition and he started making
tanks and crushers and what have you. So I mean, you know, you got to -- but he
had to have enough inside of him to see these things were happening.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, Ken, nephew of Leon S. Peters, you give me
tremendous insight that no one else can offer on Leon S. Peters as an uncle, as
a family person, and Uncle Lee would certainly be proud –>> Kenneth Peters: You know he was a –>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --of what you do. And your family have continued that
legend of giving to the community and caring about them.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he was a great person. There's -- he was a very great
person. I was going to say one thing. The last time I saw my uncle was in the
hospital, and he was terminally ill. And Uncle Lee used to like salmon, that was
his favorite fish. And every time I go fishing, I'd bring him fish and
everything. So Uncle Lee was in the hospital and we knew the end was there. And
I'd go in to San Francisco on a trip, and that was the day that we went up
there, and fishing was terrible. I mean, I couldn't believe how bad it was. At
the end of the -- by -- that whole day, toward the end of the day, I caught one
little bitty fish. It was barely a keeper. And I brought it to the hospital and
I told the cooks over there, please, cook this for my uncle. And then when I
went to see my uncle afterward, he told me it was a good fish. But he said, that
was sure a bony fish you brought.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A small one. But how did ->> Kenneth Peters: But that was the best fish I ever caught.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. How did your uncle approach death? How did Leon
S. Peters, when he was -- he knew -- obviously, he knew it was toward the end.
Did he show any signs? Did ->> Kenneth Peters: No. He said -- we were at Dick Alanjian's place when we told
him that he was sick -- told me that he was sick. And he said, well, he said,
I've got a cancer in my liver, he told me. And he said, that the doctors said
that there's no problem. He said, we're going to put a pump in me so I'll be in
good shape, and that's all he talked about. He was very positive. We talked
about it. And then I believed him for every word he said.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: I didn't know any different.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was your uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so that's what it was. And he was very positive clear up
until the last time I saw him. But he had a good attitude. I guess, he was
pretty damn sick when he went to the plant, through the last time. I guess I
didn't.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Bud is there any other thing I should ->> Bud Richter: Maybe you should ask him about Pete. Did you have any thoughts
about Uncle Pete?
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. A great idea. Uncle Pete, we've enjoyed giving an
insight as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your other uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Pete -- if it doesn't come out exactly right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's okay. We'll cut and paste it.
>> Kenneth Peters: Okay. Uncle Pete's was following his big brother. Uncle Pete
was six years old when he lost his mother.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: He really didn't have a role model. My uncle was his role
model. Uncle put him under his shoulder. And Uncle Pete's a very brilliant
person. And so it was Uncle Pete and Uncle Lee all the time, like this. And
Uncle Pete gave his soul to the Valley Foundry. That was his to this day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He seemed to be the implementer. In other words, when
things needed to be built, ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- he had the technical knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, no, he had the brains to do all this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Lee had the ideas in there, and then is that a correct ->> Kenneth Peters: It's a very correct thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- insight. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete was the one that made the tanks that they put
together in pieces out on the job, and Uncle Pete was that end of it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Those stainless steel tanks were really -- in terms of,
if you look at today, he was so far ahead of his time because no one had
constructed the size of those tanks, and it took someone with real knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: That was strictly Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. So he was able, so he was able to implement the
ideas, [inaudible] the ideas that Uncle Lee had.
>> Kenneth Peters: And then his Uncle Lee got older in his wisdom or whatever it
was, you know, none of us -- we were on a farm, we were doing our thing and
nobody was able to really take care of the business or continue the business,
and that's when he merged with Ametek.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he merged with Ametek Corporation, and he stayed on as
the manager for umpteen years. You never even knew it changed hands.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I oftentimes think of your Uncle Pete as sort of like
equivalent to Rafer Johnson and Jimmy Johnson. Here you had a world-class
athlete and Jimmy Johnson class, but he always was sort of under the shadow ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of his brother Rafer.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And a lot of the people, the more we get to know about
Pete Peters, he was a legend in giant in his community as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete carried -- took the baton and carried it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. That's a good way of putting it.
>> Kenneth Peters: And when he got the -- when Uncle Lee passed away, there was
a Foundation. It was Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete got in and rolled up his sleeves and he's made it
to what it is today, because he's run it quite a bit from what it was then.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. He really has.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so this is good so.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. And it continues. Well, Ken, we can't thank you
enough for the insights that you have offered. They are very, very special. And
to be able to capture this and pass it on to -- just as Uncle Lee mentored you,
he mentored many of us in the community, which we are very, very grateful for.
And not only the Leon S. Peters, but the Pete Peters Foundation. Graciousness
and wanting to assist and have the archiving of all this, thousands of students
down the road.
>> Kenneth Peters: But, you know, this is a very important project in my
estimation, because it was just a bunch of papers that they were scads would be
thrown away and nobody cared and we kept them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, thank goodness you had the insight ->> Kenneth Peters: Boy ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of keeping this.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- tell me about it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Your vision [speaking simultaneously]
>> Kenneth Peters: And I didn't have any vision at that time. I just did it
because I did it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, that's good, because you knew what was important
and thank God you did. You're the one that was keeping not only that, but other
things that you've kept.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I'm just very happy for that. And I'm glad that there's
people that are going to keep these things for future generations. Because I
felt at that time if I had them, which I did, -- my kids don't even know I have
-- let alone, nieces and nephews, and future generations, they would have got
lost to history.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: This way everybody can use them whoever wants them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Well, we're very, very grateful. And again, we're
very appreciative of your time and your sharing of your stories. Thank you.
>> Kenneth Peters: Thank you.
[Silence]
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: We have the pleasure of interviewing Ken Peters, nephew
of the great Leon S. Peters, and even though the public persona is this legend,
which is well-deserved of Leon S. peters, you know him as Uncle Pete, as your
uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: No, Uncle Lee.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Uncle Lee. Uncle Lee. Thank you. Uncle Lee. And so what
we want, Ken, today is for us to -- for you to tell us about your uncle. What
are the things that you recall about it from the time you first were aware that
he was your uncle and growing up? And how was your relationship? So just start
in telling us about Uncle Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the first thing, it's impossible to tell you what I've
learned in 50 years or 60 years what my uncle did and, you know, in the time we
have this video. However, Uncle Lee was born in Fowler, California, in October
1905. My grandparents were immigrants from Armenia, and he was one of four boys
and one girl and he was the eldest. And everybody always looked up to Uncle Lee
as -- I call him the patriot of our family, the godfather, call him what you
want to call him, but he was the man. And Uncle Lee was 16, thereabouts, -- 1921
when my grandmother died. And she died of a -- I don't know what it was, but, if
they had better medical care, she would have lived a normal life. She was only
41 when she went.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Forty-one.
>> Kenneth Peters: Forty-one.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Now, was it your brother -- your father was Lee -- Leon
S. Peters' brother ->> Kenneth Peters: Yes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- was your father? Now what -- was it ->> Kenneth Peters: My dad was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Is number two.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee is the oldest. My dad, Karnig, was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Karnig.
>> Kenneth Peters: And my Aunt Melba was number three, and my Uncle Shorty or
Aram was number four, and my Uncle Pete was the baby.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete was six years old when his mother died.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Six years old.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I firmly feel that it was my grandmother's passing
without an immediate father, without a mother, and that's the reason why my
uncle is -- was interested in medical care. I think that was his entry into the
medical care, and I think that it was just, you know, that's part of the game.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So that really shaped -- the loss of his mother ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- at the age of six had a dramatic impact upon his
development and his persona and involvement with the health care industry, which
we will talk about later on, Community Hospital ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and the legacy he built there. So tell us about
growing up with Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the other thing about Uncle Lee that I want to tell you
about is when he graduated from high school, ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Fowler High?
>> Kenneth Peters: Fowler High, he wanted to go to college, and I think he
wanted to be an attorney. That's what I've heard. And my grandfather had no
future for -[Inaudible]
>> Kenneth Peters: -- further education.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Oh, for the education.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so my uncle -- I guess he really cried. He wanted to go
to school and they wouldn't let him go to school. He was going to be a farmer.
So it was -- that's the way it went in those times. And so shortly after that,
my dad and my Uncle Lee bought their first ranch, and it was Peters Brothers
ranch at that time -- whatever, have you. Of course, you know, Uncle Lee was
well read. Well, he was a student. The only thing he never had was that piece of
paper from the university. It didn't hurt him at the time. I'm sure he was able
to make lemonade out of lemons.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I really think that, that's part of his background, for
his educational part of him. That's why he was so interested in education,
because he was denied it. Growing up, my uncle was a real neat kind of a guy. Of
course, we all looked up to him, as I said, and we would have to sit down and
we'd go visit him, see him, he'd mentor us. He had no children of his own. There
was ten of us, and he treated each one of us like his own. And most of the time,
especially, when there was questions, we wouldn't get the answer. We went to him
for, -- I guess, it wasn't sympathy. We'd walk out of there hanging our heads
real low, and say why did we even bother to come here. But we always did what he
told us, and that's the way it was.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was a mentor, not only to lots of other people, but
to you at your early age.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, very much so. I was very -- I always felt that I'm very,
very fortunate I had somebody I could talk to in that respect. I would go and
sit down and talk to him, and I only know what happened to the outcome. He had a
way -- he never really raised his voice. He never really got real mad, but he
had a way of making you feel real bad, in his own way [laughter]. I can always
remember one time we were -- I went to his office, and my uncle's really beating
himself up because he had to give a speech in San Diego, and he was going to go
to give a speech the next day in Phoenix, and so he was trying to get through to
Los Angeles airport and airlines and this and that and the other thing. I told
him, I said, why don't you just charter an airplane and go. He got up and he
started to close the door and he sat down. And I'll tell you what, 20 minutes
later -- I've never asked that question again, never. He said, we don't waste
money like that. We don't do this. Nobody flies First Class. Nobody does this.
Nobody does that. Never again did I ask him about chartering an airplane
[laughter].
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was a fiscal conservative.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was very, very conservative in his own way. He lived good.
He wasn't a pauper, by all means. But there was time when Auntie Alice -- it was
either a dishwasher or one of her washing machines broke in their house. It was
an old house. And instead of going ahead and replacing it, he saw to it that it
got fixed. He wasn't going to buy a new one, and that's the way he was there.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think was the impetus for his philanthropy,
you know, he was very modest, very poor, I mean, upbringing, in the sense of
financially, but then became very successful, but yet, you know, if you
basically were fiscally conservative but yet he gave so much money to so many
organizations. What was that do you think that nurtured that, that feeling of
giving back to the community and giving that?
>> Kenneth Peters: I just think it was his bringing up without very much and his
love for the community. He was a very patriotic type of person. He was the kind
of the guy that he had an American flag out in front of his building all the
time. And World War II came along and he turned his plant into a war production
plant where they made parts for navy, if I'm not mistaken.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right, correct.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah. So he turned his plant into that. So you can see him
very patriotic. When he was a young guy, maybe in his early twenties, his big
impetus at that point was Armenian American Citizens League, and what he would
do, would help other people, immigrants. He would teach them this and he would - teachers, and he translated everything so they could all become citizens, and
that was very important to him, which was good. And he helped all these people
from foreign country assimilate into the American ways. So this was what my
uncle’s thing was in those days.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Isn't it interesting how patriotic he was and yet, when
he grew up, Armenians were discriminated against in Fresno County. And so it
could have been very easy for him to be very cynical and very non-patriotic,
but, instead he was very.
>> Kenneth Peters: You know, I'll tell you what, he was the kind of a guy -- and
I didn't understand it – I always figured that if you don't like me, you don't
like me; that's all there is to it, but he wasn't that way. Because his house
where he lives on Van Ness Extension, he was the first Armenian to live in that
area. Why did he want to live there? I don't know. He was the first Armenian to
join a country club, that didn't like Armenians. And I'm looking at this, and
that was my uncle. And so he did all these things. And I'm happy that he did it.
I'm quite glad that he did but he didn't have to.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He paved the way probably for lots of other people that
would have never got that opportunity.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he opened doors. He opened doors for not only
Armenians, but many of the other minority groups that would have never probably
been accepted to the country club or been able to buy a home in a certain
neighborhood.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, this is true. And I wish more people today would do
this, but such we see this all the time. And they'll sit in one section and this
is us and this is us. You're no different. I mean, they still have bones and
blood like we do.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or everybody else is all the same.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Did
unique sense of humor. But
so godlike and stern-like.
sometimes -- he said, Leon
he have a sense of humor? I thought he had a very
I'd see him smile -- because he always looked, maybe,
When I talk to your Uncle Pete, he tells me, he says
says things, boy, people listened --
>> Kenneth Peters: That's.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --and he had this aura about him. But did you ever notice
that he had a sense of humor?
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee would be most happy -- I think, when the babies
were around, I could always seem him, had a big smile on his face. He loved to
smoke cigars, in those days. And he played Santa Claus at our house. It was at a
family reunion. We had Christmas Eve at our house and us kids we'd all open
presents. Well, Uncle Lee was the Santa Claus, and we'd always have to wait for
him to smoke the cigar before we could open presents. And so he'd sit down -and I swear he had the biggest cigar in the world, and so that was -- and he'd
get on his knees and when he'd see the little people, they'd always smile and
he'd always be happy and go lucky. He was a very formal type of person.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And there was times I'd go to his house -- you go to his
house on a Sunday afternoon and he'd be sitting in his chair with his white
shirt and tie on, sitting at home reading the paper and ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What were the signs if you knew sometimes that he was
upset? Because you're right. Many people have said he was quiet. He never seemed
to raise his voice. But when did you, when did you know, he’s sort of serious
and he's really ->> Kenneth Peters: When Uncle Lee was most serious when you knew you were in
trouble --
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- is when we used to walk up to his office and sit down and
talk to him. But when he'd say stand up and close the door, oh, my God and sit
down and you were in for trouble.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew you were in the principal's office, huh?
>> Kenneth Peters: Big time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Big time.
>> Kenneth Peters: And, in fact, one time I've got to say one thing is shortly
after my dad passed away, there was a Haigazian College fundraiser and Dad
always looked forward to everything Uncle Lee did, I mean, this was it. And Dad
passed away in June and this fundraiser in July and they were involved in it and
everything and I was the bartender, one of the bartenders. Well, there's one
drink for you, one drink for me, one drink for you, one drink for me. And so
apparently, they flew this President of this university in Beirut over there,
and so Uncle Lee brings him up and he's going to be introducing him to Kenneth.
Well, I was, bad shape, very bad; so I didn't say no more. I guess I embarrassed
the devil out of him. So I'll never forget, I walked into his office, he stood
up that day, he put his hand on my shoulder and he looked in my eyes and he
says, Kenneth, -- well, that was the ultimate. They always call me Butch, you
know, that's -- and.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew.
>> Kenneth
And do you
what, so I
And I just
two drinks
Peters: Yeah. He said, do you have a problem? What's your problem?
need help? Do you need this? Do you need that? Well, I'll tell you
told him -- it was -- I was wrong. There's no question about that.
told him. But, you know, the rest of his life he never saw me with
in my body, more, never.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think, you know, from a family perspective,
here you have an uncle that really did rise to such a level not only because it
is business success and not only because of his philanthropy, but because of
his, his values and his ethics, why do you think people, in terms of -- elevated
him to such status?
>> Kenneth Peters: I think they probably elevate him to the status because he
earned it. I really feel that way. I mean, they -- he did stuff and people
respected him and, you know, it was kind of this way. I really feel that way. I
don't think anybody gave him anything that he didn't deserve, if that's the
right thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure. In terms of the family, the family has been very
much involved and perpetuate, you know, I look at Pete Peters Foundation, Leon
S. Peters Foundation, all of your involvement in continuing that legend of
philanthropy. How is it that as you begin that culture that Pete started or
rather Leon started in the community has been perpetuated -- did you all catch
on to it?
>> Kenneth Peters: No basically, what it was -- and I've given a copy to Tammy
Lau of his original thing. I gave it the other day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was in his will that he's left a Foundation and that his
desires were education, medical, his culture. He left a series of things and he
wanted to be continued. And at that time there was a board, it was basically
Auntie Alice, and his Uncle Pete -- and we were kind of rubber stamps, if that's
the right word. We were over there doing this stuff. And thank God for Uncle
Pete because Uncle Pete turned it into a business. Uncle Pete grew the
Foundation, made it into an absolute business and that's what it was. And we
were -- and we got chosen to be on the Board, which I'm very proud of. We get no
pay or nothing else for it. I mean, there's -- we could even get a basketball
ticket out of the Foundation. I'm serious.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's what it was. And so there's a board and he was a
legacy and this is what his wishes were, and we're trying to be the best
stewards that we know how to perpetuate what he started.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I was telling Bud Richter and some of the members of the
committee, I think you were there the other day about having my grandchildren in
town ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and we were visiting the zoo. We were visiting the
Metropolitan Museum. And even as four year olds, we begin to say gee, this Leon
has Pete Peters Foundation, they must have been pretty important people. And
anywhere you go in this community, not only in this community, but, I guess, in
terms of the Armenian College and other areas, because I guess the limits were
not only to this area, but to other, outside the area as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was done to other areas as well, however, the main impetus
is Fresno; Fresno, this local area. And it's not to help any one person, ethnic
group, or any of that kind of stuff, it's the hardest thing to do is to find
where you can help everybody. It doesn't matter who you are. And I don't like
people making profits you know, stuff like that would.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Of course.
>> Kenneth Peters: And we paint a very nice town of this. We're making it better
all the time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You certainly have.
>> Kenneth Peters: And it's, you know, you look at the college, it's nice. I
look at the high school or look at libraries and Fowler especially or here at
the college and we start looking at the River Park. I don't know. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Certainly.
>> Kenneth Peters: And the zoo. And it helps everybody who comes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: At the end of the day, there's lots of people have
learned, as you said, he was your mentor, but, if you had to sort of pick one or
two things that had the greatest impact upon your life because of Uncle Lee,
what would probably be the thing that would stand out? And I know this is a
difficult question. But probably.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Lee taught me three words, and I didn't know what
he says at the time, and I studied them. He says, honesty, integrity, and
service.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Honesty, integrity, and service.
>> Kenneth Peters: And those were my uncle's -- they came out of his mouth. I
mean, I didn't know what it meant at the time. I went home and I'm reading this
thing. What is -- what's he saying and I figured it out. And of course, him
being a Rotarian, everything on the Rotary Creed was very high to him. Because,
I know when I was in his office and there were times I was in there, and he was
upset with some of the wine makers or somebody like that, he would say I told
him, what about the Rotary Creed, and the guy was saying that doesn't apply to
this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, actually Leon's life sort of did model the
Rotary Creeds.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Service above self.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, is it fair to all concerned, and you go down
there -- and you're right, he could have written that Rotary Creed.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's the way he lived his life. Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. Let's take just a second and I'll let you look at
his [speaking simultaneously].
>> Kenneth Peters: No. I've done pretty good. Yeah. There's only one other thing
that I was going to tell you.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: You can cut and paste.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay. We will.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or delete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I doubt that we want to delete much of this.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, anyway, my uncle was not isolated from any one
individual. It didn't matter who you were, what you were, or what walk of life
you came in. He talked to them. I know that through the Foundation -- I mean,
some minister came in and said something about his church and so Uncle Lee
painted his church, and we still donate, you know, keep the church going. And I
think that was great. And we had a worker working for us and he was kind of like
our babysitter. He worked for my dad before they got married. And he was
alcoholic. And when he put his black hat on, he'd get, you know, he was on a
drunk. But one day he had something he was going to vent. I don't know what he
did. So he went to Uncle Lee's office and he walked in and he sat down and
vented his things. And Uncle Lee got up and looked at him and Uncle Lee filled
his pocket full of cigars -- this guy's cigars. And this guy comes walking in
our house and said, I went and saw Leo, he gave me cigars. And he sobered up,
went back to work. It was his -- that was my uncle.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was accessive of people -- he was accessible to all
kinds of folks.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was accessible to all people. Even -- he usually had his
door open. Very seldom he had his door closed. And [inaudible] his door open and
he was on the telephone. Sit down. But that's the way he was to everybody. It
just wasn't me.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Is there anything I should have probably asked you
that I didn't ask you, that any last sort of thoughts on Uncle Lee?
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, my uncle was a perfectionist. He managed everything
nice. And he and my dad were partners on a farm for their entire life.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The entire?
>> Kenneth Peters: Entire life. It was Peters Brothers Ranch.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: Dad stayed on the farm and Uncle Lee went over there. And
actually, Uncle Shorty stayed on the farm and Uncle Pete went over to the
Foundry too. So there was two partnerships, really. And we'd have to have
everything just spit shined and perfect. I mean, everything was out there,
because you never knew when Uncle Lee was going to bring his friends out and
show them our farms.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And just -- so we always had to have everything in tip-top
shape for my uncle so we wouldn't embarrass him.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What was it about agriculture that helped really shape
his, not only his business philosophy, but that ag background of -- because he
initially, you know, he grew up and that's how he begin to, I think, you know,
as a salesman sell ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- ag implements.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, when he and Dad were on the farm, there wasn't enough
money for two bachelors so Uncle Lee went and got a job, worked for Mr. Keithly
->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- at Valley Foundry and then that was a losing proposition.
And so my uncle had foresight, lots of foresight.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He really was a visionary.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yes. Because he worked for Keithly, and Keithly wanted to
sell it, or close it down or something. And Uncle Lee said, let me manage it.
And when I make a profit, I'll buy it from you. So, Uncle Lee worked for no
salary. He had his own car. He went for five years managing that place and
finally showed a profit, and he bought it from Keithly and the rest is history.
But I guess that was his niche. He had a foresight, you know. Of course, a lot
of times, times came along and the end of prohibition and he started making
tanks and crushers and what have you. So I mean, you know, you got to -- but he
had to have enough inside of him to see these things were happening.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, Ken, nephew of Leon S. Peters, you give me
tremendous insight that no one else can offer on Leon S. Peters as an uncle, as
a family person, and Uncle Lee would certainly be proud –>> Kenneth Peters: You know he was a –>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --of what you do. And your family have continued that
legend of giving to the community and caring about them.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he was a great person. There's -- he was a very great
person. I was going to say one thing. The last time I saw my uncle was in the
hospital, and he was terminally ill. And Uncle Lee used to like salmon, that was
his favorite fish. And every time I go fishing, I'd bring him fish and
everything. So Uncle Lee was in the hospital and we knew the end was there. And
I'd go in to San Francisco on a trip, and that was the day that we went up
there, and fishing was terrible. I mean, I couldn't believe how bad it was. At
the end of the -- by -- that whole day, toward the end of the day, I caught one
little bitty fish. It was barely a keeper. And I brought it to the hospital and
I told the cooks over there, please, cook this for my uncle. And then when I
went to see my uncle afterward, he told me it was a good fish. But he said, that
was sure a bony fish you brought.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A small one. But how did ->> Kenneth Peters: But that was the best fish I ever caught.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. How did your uncle approach death? How did Leon
S. Peters, when he was -- he knew -- obviously, he knew it was toward the end.
Did he show any signs? Did ->> Kenneth Peters: No. He said -- we were at Dick Alanjian's place when we told
him that he was sick -- told me that he was sick. And he said, well, he said,
I've got a cancer in my liver, he told me. And he said, that the doctors said
that there's no problem. He said, we're going to put a pump in me so I'll be in
good shape, and that's all he talked about. He was very positive. We talked
about it. And then I believed him for every word he said.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: I didn't know any different.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was your uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so that's what it was. And he was very positive clear up
until the last time I saw him. But he had a good attitude. I guess, he was
pretty damn sick when he went to the plant, through the last time. I guess I
didn't.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Bud is there any other thing I should ->> Bud Richter: Maybe you should ask him about Pete. Did you have any thoughts
about Uncle Pete?
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. A great idea. Uncle Pete, we've enjoyed giving an
insight as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your other uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Pete -- if it doesn't come out exactly right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's okay. We'll cut and paste it.
>> Kenneth Peters: Okay. Uncle Pete's was following his big brother. Uncle Pete
was six years old when he lost his mother.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: He really didn't have a role model. My uncle was his role
model. Uncle put him under his shoulder. And Uncle Pete's a very brilliant
person. And so it was Uncle Pete and Uncle Lee all the time, like this. And
Uncle Pete gave his soul to the Valley Foundry. That was his to this day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He seemed to be the implementer. In other words, when
things needed to be built, ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- he had the technical knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, no, he had the brains to do all this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Lee had the ideas in there, and then is that a correct ->> Kenneth Peters: It's a very correct thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- insight. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete was the one that made the tanks that they put
together in pieces out on the job, and Uncle Pete was that end of it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Those stainless steel tanks were really -- in terms of,
if you look at today, he was so far ahead of his time because no one had
constructed the size of those tanks, and it took someone with real knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: That was strictly Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. So he was able, so he was able to implement the
ideas, [inaudible] the ideas that Uncle Lee had.
>> Kenneth Peters: And then his Uncle Lee got older in his wisdom or whatever it
was, you know, none of us -- we were on a farm, we were doing our thing and
nobody was able to really take care of the business or continue the business,
and that's when he merged with Ametek.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he merged with Ametek Corporation, and he stayed on as
the manager for umpteen years. You never even knew it changed hands.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I oftentimes think of your Uncle Pete as sort of like
equivalent to Rafer Johnson and Jimmy Johnson. Here you had a world-class
athlete and Jimmy Johnson class, but he always was sort of under the shadow ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of his brother Rafer.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And a lot of the people, the more we get to know about
Pete Peters, he was a legend in giant in his community as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete carried -- took the baton and carried it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. That's a good way of putting it.
>> Kenneth Peters: And when he got the -- when Uncle Lee passed away, there was
a Foundation. It was Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete got in and rolled up his sleeves and he's made it
to what it is today, because he's run it quite a bit from what it was then.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. He really has.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so this is good so.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. And it continues. Well, Ken, we can't thank you
enough for the insights that you have offered. They are very, very special. And
to be able to capture this and pass it on to -- just as Uncle Lee mentored you,
he mentored many of us in the community, which we are very, very grateful for.
And not only the Leon S. Peters, but the Pete Peters Foundation. Graciousness
and wanting to assist and have the archiving of all this, thousands of students
down the road.
>> Kenneth Peters: But, you know, this is a very important project in my
estimation, because it was just a bunch of papers that they were scads would be
thrown away and nobody cared and we kept them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, thank goodness you had the insight ->> Kenneth Peters: Boy ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of keeping this.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- tell me about it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Your vision [speaking simultaneously]
>> Kenneth Peters: And I didn't have any vision at that time. I just did it
because I did it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, that's good, because you knew what was important
and thank God you did. You're the one that was keeping not only that, but other
things that you've kept.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I'm just very happy for that. And I'm glad that there's
people that are going to keep these things for future generations. Because I
felt at that time if I had them, which I did, -- my kids don't even know I have
-- let alone, nieces and nephews, and future generations, they would have got
lost to history.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: This way everybody can use them whoever wants them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Well, we're very, very grateful. And again, we're
very appreciative of your time and your sharing of your stories. Thank you.
>> Kenneth Peters: Thank you.
[Silence]
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
[Silence]
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: We have the pleasure of interviewing Ken Peters, nephew
of the great Leon S. Peters, and even though the public persona is this legend,
which is well-deserved of Leon S. peters, you know him as Uncle Pete, as your
uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: No, Uncle Lee.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Uncle Lee. Uncle Lee. Thank you. Uncle Lee. And so what
we want, Ken, today is for us to -- for you to tell us about your uncle. What
are the things that you recall about it from the time you first were aware that
he was your uncle and growing up? And how was your relationship? So just start
in telling us about Uncle Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the first thing, it's impossible to tell you what I've
learned in 50 years or 60 years what my uncle did and, you know, in the time we
have this video. However, Uncle Lee was born in Fowler, California, in October
1905. My grandparents were immigrants from Armenia, and he was one of four boys
and one girl and he was the eldest. And everybody always looked up to Uncle Lee
as -- I call him the patriot of our family, the godfather, call him what you
want to call him, but he was the man. And Uncle Lee was 16, thereabouts, -- 1921
when my grandmother died. And she died of a -- I don't know what it was, but, if
they had better medical care, she would have lived a normal life. She was only
41 when she went.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Forty-one.
>> Kenneth Peters: Forty-one.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Now, was it your brother -- your father was Lee -- Leon
S. Peters' brother ->> Kenneth Peters: Yes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- was your father? Now what -- was it ->> Kenneth Peters: My dad was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Is number two.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee is the oldest. My dad, Karnig, was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Karnig.
>> Kenneth Peters: And my Aunt Melba was number three, and my Uncle Shorty or
Aram was number four, and my Uncle Pete was the baby.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete was six years old when his mother died.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Six years old.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I firmly feel that it was my grandmother's passing
without an immediate father, without a mother, and that's the reason why my
uncle is -- was interested in medical care. I think that was his entry into the
medical care, and I think that it was just, you know, that's part of the game.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So that really shaped -- the loss of his mother ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- at the age of six had a dramatic impact upon his
development and his persona and involvement with the health care industry, which
we will talk about later on, Community Hospital ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and the legacy he built there. So tell us about
growing up with Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the other thing about Uncle Lee that I want to tell you
about is when he graduated from high school, ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Fowler High?
>> Kenneth Peters: Fowler High, he wanted to go to college, and I think he
wanted to be an attorney. That's what I've heard. And my grandfather had no
future for -[Inaudible]
>> Kenneth Peters: -- further education.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Oh, for the education.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so my uncle -- I guess he really cried. He wanted to go
to school and they wouldn't let him go to school. He was going to be a farmer.
So it was -- that's the way it went in those times. And so shortly after that,
my dad and my Uncle Lee bought their first ranch, and it was Peters Brothers
ranch at that time -- whatever, have you. Of course, you know, Uncle Lee was
well read. Well, he was a student. The only thing he never had was that piece of
paper from the university. It didn't hurt him at the time. I'm sure he was able
to make lemonade out of lemons.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I really think that, that's part of his background, for
his educational part of him. That's why he was so interested in education,
because he was denied it. Growing up, my uncle was a real neat kind of a guy. Of
course, we all looked up to him, as I said, and we would have to sit down and
we'd go visit him, see him, he'd mentor us. He had no children of his own. There
was ten of us, and he treated each one of us like his own. And most of the time,
especially, when there was questions, we wouldn't get the answer. We went to him
for, -- I guess, it wasn't sympathy. We'd walk out of there hanging our heads
real low, and say why did we even bother to come here. But we always did what he
told us, and that's the way it was.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was a mentor, not only to lots of other people, but
to you at your early age.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, very much so. I was very -- I always felt that I'm very,
very fortunate I had somebody I could talk to in that respect. I would go and
sit down and talk to him, and I only know what happened to the outcome. He had a
way -- he never really raised his voice. He never really got real mad, but he
had a way of making you feel real bad, in his own way [laughter]. I can always
remember one time we were -- I went to his office, and my uncle's really beating
himself up because he had to give a speech in San Diego, and he was going to go
to give a speech the next day in Phoenix, and so he was trying to get through to
Los Angeles airport and airlines and this and that and the other thing. I told
him, I said, why don't you just charter an airplane and go. He got up and he
started to close the door and he sat down. And I'll tell you what, 20 minutes
later -- I've never asked that question again, never. He said, we don't waste
money like that. We don't do this. Nobody flies First Class. Nobody does this.
Nobody does that. Never again did I ask him about chartering an airplane
[laughter].
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was a fiscal conservative.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was very, very conservative in his own way. He lived good.
He wasn't a pauper, by all means. But there was time when Auntie Alice -- it was
either a dishwasher or one of her washing machines broke in their house. It was
an old house. And instead of going ahead and replacing it, he saw to it that it
got fixed. He wasn't going to buy a new one, and that's the way he was there.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think was the impetus for his philanthropy,
you know, he was very modest, very poor, I mean, upbringing, in the sense of
financially, but then became very successful, but yet, you know, if you
basically were fiscally conservative but yet he gave so much money to so many
organizations. What was that do you think that nurtured that, that feeling of
giving back to the community and giving that?
>> Kenneth Peters: I just think it was his bringing up without very much and his
love for the community. He was a very patriotic type of person. He was the kind
of the guy that he had an American flag out in front of his building all the
time. And World War II came along and he turned his plant into a war production
plant where they made parts for navy, if I'm not mistaken.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right, correct.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah. So he turned his plant into that. So you can see him
very patriotic. When he was a young guy, maybe in his early twenties, his big
impetus at that point was Armenian American Citizens League, and what he would
do, would help other people, immigrants. He would teach them this and he would - teachers, and he translated everything so they could all become citizens, and
that was very important to him, which was good. And he helped all these people
from foreign country assimilate into the American ways. So this was what my
uncle’s thing was in those days.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Isn't it interesting how patriotic he was and yet, when
he grew up, Armenians were discriminated against in Fresno County. And so it
could have been very easy for him to be very cynical and very non-patriotic,
but, instead he was very.
>> Kenneth Peters: You know, I'll tell you what, he was the kind of a guy -- and
I didn't understand it – I always figured that if you don't like me, you don't
like me; that's all there is to it, but he wasn't that way. Because his house
where he lives on Van Ness Extension, he was the first Armenian to live in that
area. Why did he want to live there? I don't know. He was the first Armenian to
join a country club, that didn't like Armenians. And I'm looking at this, and
that was my uncle. And so he did all these things. And I'm happy that he did it.
I'm quite glad that he did but he didn't have to.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He paved the way probably for lots of other people that
would have never got that opportunity.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he opened doors. He opened doors for not only
Armenians, but many of the other minority groups that would have never probably
been accepted to the country club or been able to buy a home in a certain
neighborhood.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, this is true. And I wish more people today would do
this, but such we see this all the time. And they'll sit in one section and this
is us and this is us. You're no different. I mean, they still have bones and
blood like we do.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or everybody else is all the same.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Did
unique sense of humor. But
so godlike and stern-like.
sometimes -- he said, Leon
he have a sense of humor? I thought he had a very
I'd see him smile -- because he always looked, maybe,
When I talk to your Uncle Pete, he tells me, he says
says things, boy, people listened --
>> Kenneth Peters: That's.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --and he had this aura about him. But did you ever notice
that he had a sense of humor?
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee would be most happy -- I think, when the babies
were around, I could always seem him, had a big smile on his face. He loved to
smoke cigars, in those days. And he played Santa Claus at our house. It was at a
family reunion. We had Christmas Eve at our house and us kids we'd all open
presents. Well, Uncle Lee was the Santa Claus, and we'd always have to wait for
him to smoke the cigar before we could open presents. And so he'd sit down -and I swear he had the biggest cigar in the world, and so that was -- and he'd
get on his knees and when he'd see the little people, they'd always smile and
he'd always be happy and go lucky. He was a very formal type of person.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And there was times I'd go to his house -- you go to his
house on a Sunday afternoon and he'd be sitting in his chair with his white
shirt and tie on, sitting at home reading the paper and ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What were the signs if you knew sometimes that he was
upset? Because you're right. Many people have said he was quiet. He never seemed
to raise his voice. But when did you, when did you know, he’s sort of serious
and he's really ->> Kenneth Peters: When Uncle Lee was most serious when you knew you were in
trouble --
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- is when we used to walk up to his office and sit down and
talk to him. But when he'd say stand up and close the door, oh, my God and sit
down and you were in for trouble.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew you were in the principal's office, huh?
>> Kenneth Peters: Big time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Big time.
>> Kenneth Peters: And, in fact, one time I've got to say one thing is shortly
after my dad passed away, there was a Haigazian College fundraiser and Dad
always looked forward to everything Uncle Lee did, I mean, this was it. And Dad
passed away in June and this fundraiser in July and they were involved in it and
everything and I was the bartender, one of the bartenders. Well, there's one
drink for you, one drink for me, one drink for you, one drink for me. And so
apparently, they flew this President of this university in Beirut over there,
and so Uncle Lee brings him up and he's going to be introducing him to Kenneth.
Well, I was, bad shape, very bad; so I didn't say no more. I guess I embarrassed
the devil out of him. So I'll never forget, I walked into his office, he stood
up that day, he put his hand on my shoulder and he looked in my eyes and he
says, Kenneth, -- well, that was the ultimate. They always call me Butch, you
know, that's -- and.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew.
>> Kenneth
And do you
what, so I
And I just
two drinks
Peters: Yeah. He said, do you have a problem? What's your problem?
need help? Do you need this? Do you need that? Well, I'll tell you
told him -- it was -- I was wrong. There's no question about that.
told him. But, you know, the rest of his life he never saw me with
in my body, more, never.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think, you know, from a family perspective,
here you have an uncle that really did rise to such a level not only because it
is business success and not only because of his philanthropy, but because of
his, his values and his ethics, why do you think people, in terms of -- elevated
him to such status?
>> Kenneth Peters: I think they probably elevate him to the status because he
earned it. I really feel that way. I mean, they -- he did stuff and people
respected him and, you know, it was kind of this way. I really feel that way. I
don't think anybody gave him anything that he didn't deserve, if that's the
right thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure. In terms of the family, the family has been very
much involved and perpetuate, you know, I look at Pete Peters Foundation, Leon
S. Peters Foundation, all of your involvement in continuing that legend of
philanthropy. How is it that as you begin that culture that Pete started or
rather Leon started in the community has been perpetuated -- did you all catch
on to it?
>> Kenneth Peters: No basically, what it was -- and I've given a copy to Tammy
Lau of his original thing. I gave it the other day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was in his will that he's left a Foundation and that his
desires were education, medical, his culture. He left a series of things and he
wanted to be continued. And at that time there was a board, it was basically
Auntie Alice, and his Uncle Pete -- and we were kind of rubber stamps, if that's
the right word. We were over there doing this stuff. And thank God for Uncle
Pete because Uncle Pete turned it into a business. Uncle Pete grew the
Foundation, made it into an absolute business and that's what it was. And we
were -- and we got chosen to be on the Board, which I'm very proud of. We get no
pay or nothing else for it. I mean, there's -- we could even get a basketball
ticket out of the Foundation. I'm serious.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's what it was. And so there's a board and he was a
legacy and this is what his wishes were, and we're trying to be the best
stewards that we know how to perpetuate what he started.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I was telling Bud Richter and some of the members of the
committee, I think you were there the other day about having my grandchildren in
town ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and we were visiting the zoo. We were visiting the
Metropolitan Museum. And even as four year olds, we begin to say gee, this Leon
has Pete Peters Foundation, they must have been pretty important people. And
anywhere you go in this community, not only in this community, but, I guess, in
terms of the Armenian College and other areas, because I guess the limits were
not only to this area, but to other, outside the area as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was done to other areas as well, however, the main impetus
is Fresno; Fresno, this local area. And it's not to help any one person, ethnic
group, or any of that kind of stuff, it's the hardest thing to do is to find
where you can help everybody. It doesn't matter who you are. And I don't like
people making profits you know, stuff like that would.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Of course.
>> Kenneth Peters: And we paint a very nice town of this. We're making it better
all the time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You certainly have.
>> Kenneth Peters: And it's, you know, you look at the college, it's nice. I
look at the high school or look at libraries and Fowler especially or here at
the college and we start looking at the River Park. I don't know. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Certainly.
>> Kenneth Peters: And the zoo. And it helps everybody who comes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: At the end of the day, there's lots of people have
learned, as you said, he was your mentor, but, if you had to sort of pick one or
two things that had the greatest impact upon your life because of Uncle Lee,
what would probably be the thing that would stand out? And I know this is a
difficult question. But probably.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Lee taught me three words, and I didn't know what
he says at the time, and I studied them. He says, honesty, integrity, and
service.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Honesty, integrity, and service.
>> Kenneth Peters: And those were my uncle's -- they came out of his mouth. I
mean, I didn't know what it meant at the time. I went home and I'm reading this
thing. What is -- what's he saying and I figured it out. And of course, him
being a Rotarian, everything on the Rotary Creed was very high to him. Because,
I know when I was in his office and there were times I was in there, and he was
upset with some of the wine makers or somebody like that, he would say I told
him, what about the Rotary Creed, and the guy was saying that doesn't apply to
this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, actually Leon's life sort of did model the
Rotary Creeds.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Service above self.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, is it fair to all concerned, and you go down
there -- and you're right, he could have written that Rotary Creed.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's the way he lived his life. Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. Let's take just a second and I'll let you look at
his [speaking simultaneously].
>> Kenneth Peters: No. I've done pretty good. Yeah. There's only one other thing
that I was going to tell you.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: You can cut and paste.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay. We will.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or delete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I doubt that we want to delete much of this.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, anyway, my uncle was not isolated from any one
individual. It didn't matter who you were, what you were, or what walk of life
you came in. He talked to them. I know that through the Foundation -- I mean,
some minister came in and said something about his church and so Uncle Lee
painted his church, and we still donate, you know, keep the church going. And I
think that was great. And we had a worker working for us and he was kind of like
our babysitter. He worked for my dad before they got married. And he was
alcoholic. And when he put his black hat on, he'd get, you know, he was on a
drunk. But one day he had something he was going to vent. I don't know what he
did. So he went to Uncle Lee's office and he walked in and he sat down and
vented his things. And Uncle Lee got up and looked at him and Uncle Lee filled
his pocket full of cigars -- this guy's cigars. And this guy comes walking in
our house and said, I went and saw Leo, he gave me cigars. And he sobered up,
went back to work. It was his -- that was my uncle.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was accessive of people -- he was accessible to all
kinds of folks.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was accessible to all people. Even -- he usually had his
door open. Very seldom he had his door closed. And [inaudible] his door open and
he was on the telephone. Sit down. But that's the way he was to everybody. It
just wasn't me.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Is there anything I should have probably asked you
that I didn't ask you, that any last sort of thoughts on Uncle Lee?
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, my uncle was a perfectionist. He managed everything
nice. And he and my dad were partners on a farm for their entire life.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The entire?
>> Kenneth Peters: Entire life. It was Peters Brothers Ranch.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: Dad stayed on the farm and Uncle Lee went over there. And
actually, Uncle Shorty stayed on the farm and Uncle Pete went over to the
Foundry too. So there was two partnerships, really. And we'd have to have
everything just spit shined and perfect. I mean, everything was out there,
because you never knew when Uncle Lee was going to bring his friends out and
show them our farms.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And just -- so we always had to have everything in tip-top
shape for my uncle so we wouldn't embarrass him.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What was it about agriculture that helped really shape
his, not only his business philosophy, but that ag background of -- because he
initially, you know, he grew up and that's how he begin to, I think, you know,
as a salesman sell ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- ag implements.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, when he and Dad were on the farm, there wasn't enough
money for two bachelors so Uncle Lee went and got a job, worked for Mr. Keithly
->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- at Valley Foundry and then that was a losing proposition.
And so my uncle had foresight, lots of foresight.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He really was a visionary.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yes. Because he worked for Keithly, and Keithly wanted to
sell it, or close it down or something. And Uncle Lee said, let me manage it.
And when I make a profit, I'll buy it from you. So, Uncle Lee worked for no
salary. He had his own car. He went for five years managing that place and
finally showed a profit, and he bought it from Keithly and the rest is history.
But I guess that was his niche. He had a foresight, you know. Of course, a lot
of times, times came along and the end of prohibition and he started making
tanks and crushers and what have you. So I mean, you know, you got to -- but he
had to have enough inside of him to see these things were happening.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, Ken, nephew of Leon S. Peters, you give me
tremendous insight that no one else can offer on Leon S. Peters as an uncle, as
a family person, and Uncle Lee would certainly be proud –>> Kenneth Peters: You know he was a –>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --of what you do. And your family have continued that
legend of giving to the community and caring about them.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he was a great person. There's -- he was a very great
person. I was going to say one thing. The last time I saw my uncle was in the
hospital, and he was terminally ill. And Uncle Lee used to like salmon, that was
his favorite fish. And every time I go fishing, I'd bring him fish and
everything. So Uncle Lee was in the hospital and we knew the end was there. And
I'd go in to San Francisco on a trip, and that was the day that we went up
there, and fishing was terrible. I mean, I couldn't believe how bad it was. At
the end of the -- by -- that whole day, toward the end of the day, I caught one
little bitty fish. It was barely a keeper. And I brought it to the hospital and
I told the cooks over there, please, cook this for my uncle. And then when I
went to see my uncle afterward, he told me it was a good fish. But he said, that
was sure a bony fish you brought.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A small one. But how did ->> Kenneth Peters: But that was the best fish I ever caught.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. How did your uncle approach death? How did Leon
S. Peters, when he was -- he knew -- obviously, he knew it was toward the end.
Did he show any signs? Did ->> Kenneth Peters: No. He said -- we were at Dick Alanjian's place when we told
him that he was sick -- told me that he was sick. And he said, well, he said,
I've got a cancer in my liver, he told me. And he said, that the doctors said
that there's no problem. He said, we're going to put a pump in me so I'll be in
good shape, and that's all he talked about. He was very positive. We talked
about it. And then I believed him for every word he said.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: I didn't know any different.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was your uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so that's what it was. And he was very positive clear up
until the last time I saw him. But he had a good attitude. I guess, he was
pretty damn sick when he went to the plant, through the last time. I guess I
didn't.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Bud is there any other thing I should ->> Bud Richter: Maybe you should ask him about Pete. Did you have any thoughts
about Uncle Pete?
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. A great idea. Uncle Pete, we've enjoyed giving an
insight as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your other uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Pete -- if it doesn't come out exactly right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's okay. We'll cut and paste it.
>> Kenneth Peters: Okay. Uncle Pete's was following his big brother. Uncle Pete
was six years old when he lost his mother.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: He really didn't have a role model. My uncle was his role
model. Uncle put him under his shoulder. And Uncle Pete's a very brilliant
person. And so it was Uncle Pete and Uncle Lee all the time, like this. And
Uncle Pete gave his soul to the Valley Foundry. That was his to this day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He seemed to be the implementer. In other words, when
things needed to be built, ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- he had the technical knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, no, he had the brains to do all this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Lee had the ideas in there, and then is that a correct ->> Kenneth Peters: It's a very correct thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- insight. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete was the one that made the tanks that they put
together in pieces out on the job, and Uncle Pete was that end of it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Those stainless steel tanks were really -- in terms of,
if you look at today, he was so far ahead of his time because no one had
constructed the size of those tanks, and it took someone with real knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: That was strictly Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. So he was able, so he was able to implement the
ideas, [inaudible] the ideas that Uncle Lee had.
>> Kenneth Peters: And then his Uncle Lee got older in his wisdom or whatever it
was, you know, none of us -- we were on a farm, we were doing our thing and
nobody was able to really take care of the business or continue the business,
and that's when he merged with Ametek.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he merged with Ametek Corporation, and he stayed on as
the manager for umpteen years. You never even knew it changed hands.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I oftentimes think of your Uncle Pete as sort of like
equivalent to Rafer Johnson and Jimmy Johnson. Here you had a world-class
athlete and Jimmy Johnson class, but he always was sort of under the shadow ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of his brother Rafer.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And a lot of the people, the more we get to know about
Pete Peters, he was a legend in giant in his community as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete carried -- took the baton and carried it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. That's a good way of putting it.
>> Kenneth Peters: And when he got the -- when Uncle Lee passed away, there was
a Foundation. It was Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete got in and rolled up his sleeves and he's made it
to what it is today, because he's run it quite a bit from what it was then.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. He really has.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so this is good so.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. And it continues. Well, Ken, we can't thank you
enough for the insights that you have offered. They are very, very special. And
to be able to capture this and pass it on to -- just as Uncle Lee mentored you,
he mentored many of us in the community, which we are very, very grateful for.
And not only the Leon S. Peters, but the Pete Peters Foundation. Graciousness
and wanting to assist and have the archiving of all this, thousands of students
down the road.
>> Kenneth Peters: But, you know, this is a very important project in my
estimation, because it was just a bunch of papers that they were scads would be
thrown away and nobody cared and we kept them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, thank goodness you had the insight ->> Kenneth Peters: Boy ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of keeping this.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- tell me about it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Your vision [speaking simultaneously]
>> Kenneth Peters: And I didn't have any vision at that time. I just did it
because I did it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, that's good, because you knew what was important
and thank God you did. You're the one that was keeping not only that, but other
things that you've kept.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I'm just very happy for that. And I'm glad that there's
people that are going to keep these things for future generations. Because I
felt at that time if I had them, which I did, -- my kids don't even know I have
-- let alone, nieces and nephews, and future generations, they would have got
lost to history.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: This way everybody can use them whoever wants them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Well, we're very, very grateful. And again, we're
very appreciative of your time and your sharing of your stories. Thank you.
>> Kenneth Peters: Thank you.
[Silence]
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: We have the pleasure of interviewing Ken Peters, nephew
of the great Leon S. Peters, and even though the public persona is this legend,
which is well-deserved of Leon S. peters, you know him as Uncle Pete, as your
uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: No, Uncle Lee.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Uncle Lee. Uncle Lee. Thank you. Uncle Lee. And so what
we want, Ken, today is for us to -- for you to tell us about your uncle. What
are the things that you recall about it from the time you first were aware that
he was your uncle and growing up? And how was your relationship? So just start
in telling us about Uncle Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the first thing, it's impossible to tell you what I've
learned in 50 years or 60 years what my uncle did and, you know, in the time we
have this video. However, Uncle Lee was born in Fowler, California, in October
1905. My grandparents were immigrants from Armenia, and he was one of four boys
and one girl and he was the eldest. And everybody always looked up to Uncle Lee
as -- I call him the patriot of our family, the godfather, call him what you
want to call him, but he was the man. And Uncle Lee was 16, thereabouts, -- 1921
when my grandmother died. And she died of a -- I don't know what it was, but, if
they had better medical care, she would have lived a normal life. She was only
41 when she went.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Forty-one.
>> Kenneth Peters: Forty-one.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Now, was it your brother -- your father was Lee -- Leon
S. Peters' brother ->> Kenneth Peters: Yes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- was your father? Now what -- was it ->> Kenneth Peters: My dad was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Is number two.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee is the oldest. My dad, Karnig, was number two.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Karnig.
>> Kenneth Peters: And my Aunt Melba was number three, and my Uncle Shorty or
Aram was number four, and my Uncle Pete was the baby.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete was six years old when his mother died.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Six years old.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I firmly feel that it was my grandmother's passing
without an immediate father, without a mother, and that's the reason why my
uncle is -- was interested in medical care. I think that was his entry into the
medical care, and I think that it was just, you know, that's part of the game.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So that really shaped -- the loss of his mother ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- at the age of six had a dramatic impact upon his
development and his persona and involvement with the health care industry, which
we will talk about later on, Community Hospital ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and the legacy he built there. So tell us about
growing up with Lee.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, the other thing about Uncle Lee that I want to tell you
about is when he graduated from high school, ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Fowler High?
>> Kenneth Peters: Fowler High, he wanted to go to college, and I think he
wanted to be an attorney. That's what I've heard. And my grandfather had no
future for -[Inaudible]
>> Kenneth Peters: -- further education.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Oh, for the education.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so my uncle -- I guess he really cried. He wanted to go
to school and they wouldn't let him go to school. He was going to be a farmer.
So it was -- that's the way it went in those times. And so shortly after that,
my dad and my Uncle Lee bought their first ranch, and it was Peters Brothers
ranch at that time -- whatever, have you. Of course, you know, Uncle Lee was
well read. Well, he was a student. The only thing he never had was that piece of
paper from the university. It didn't hurt him at the time. I'm sure he was able
to make lemonade out of lemons.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I really think that, that's part of his background, for
his educational part of him. That's why he was so interested in education,
because he was denied it. Growing up, my uncle was a real neat kind of a guy. Of
course, we all looked up to him, as I said, and we would have to sit down and
we'd go visit him, see him, he'd mentor us. He had no children of his own. There
was ten of us, and he treated each one of us like his own. And most of the time,
especially, when there was questions, we wouldn't get the answer. We went to him
for, -- I guess, it wasn't sympathy. We'd walk out of there hanging our heads
real low, and say why did we even bother to come here. But we always did what he
told us, and that's the way it was.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was a mentor, not only to lots of other people, but
to you at your early age.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, very much so. I was very -- I always felt that I'm very,
very fortunate I had somebody I could talk to in that respect. I would go and
sit down and talk to him, and I only know what happened to the outcome. He had a
way -- he never really raised his voice. He never really got real mad, but he
had a way of making you feel real bad, in his own way [laughter]. I can always
remember one time we were -- I went to his office, and my uncle's really beating
himself up because he had to give a speech in San Diego, and he was going to go
to give a speech the next day in Phoenix, and so he was trying to get through to
Los Angeles airport and airlines and this and that and the other thing. I told
him, I said, why don't you just charter an airplane and go. He got up and he
started to close the door and he sat down. And I'll tell you what, 20 minutes
later -- I've never asked that question again, never. He said, we don't waste
money like that. We don't do this. Nobody flies First Class. Nobody does this.
Nobody does that. Never again did I ask him about chartering an airplane
[laughter].
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was a fiscal conservative.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was very, very conservative in his own way. He lived good.
He wasn't a pauper, by all means. But there was time when Auntie Alice -- it was
either a dishwasher or one of her washing machines broke in their house. It was
an old house. And instead of going ahead and replacing it, he saw to it that it
got fixed. He wasn't going to buy a new one, and that's the way he was there.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think was the impetus for his philanthropy,
you know, he was very modest, very poor, I mean, upbringing, in the sense of
financially, but then became very successful, but yet, you know, if you
basically were fiscally conservative but yet he gave so much money to so many
organizations. What was that do you think that nurtured that, that feeling of
giving back to the community and giving that?
>> Kenneth Peters: I just think it was his bringing up without very much and his
love for the community. He was a very patriotic type of person. He was the kind
of the guy that he had an American flag out in front of his building all the
time. And World War II came along and he turned his plant into a war production
plant where they made parts for navy, if I'm not mistaken.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right, correct.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah. So he turned his plant into that. So you can see him
very patriotic. When he was a young guy, maybe in his early twenties, his big
impetus at that point was Armenian American Citizens League, and what he would
do, would help other people, immigrants. He would teach them this and he would - teachers, and he translated everything so they could all become citizens, and
that was very important to him, which was good. And he helped all these people
from foreign country assimilate into the American ways. So this was what my
uncle’s thing was in those days.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Isn't it interesting how patriotic he was and yet, when
he grew up, Armenians were discriminated against in Fresno County. And so it
could have been very easy for him to be very cynical and very non-patriotic,
but, instead he was very.
>> Kenneth Peters: You know, I'll tell you what, he was the kind of a guy -- and
I didn't understand it – I always figured that if you don't like me, you don't
like me; that's all there is to it, but he wasn't that way. Because his house
where he lives on Van Ness Extension, he was the first Armenian to live in that
area. Why did he want to live there? I don't know. He was the first Armenian to
join a country club, that didn't like Armenians. And I'm looking at this, and
that was my uncle. And so he did all these things. And I'm happy that he did it.
I'm quite glad that he did but he didn't have to.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He paved the way probably for lots of other people that
would have never got that opportunity.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he opened doors. He opened doors for not only
Armenians, but many of the other minority groups that would have never probably
been accepted to the country club or been able to buy a home in a certain
neighborhood.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, this is true. And I wish more people today would do
this, but such we see this all the time. And they'll sit in one section and this
is us and this is us. You're no different. I mean, they still have bones and
blood like we do.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or everybody else is all the same.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Did
unique sense of humor. But
so godlike and stern-like.
sometimes -- he said, Leon
he have a sense of humor? I thought he had a very
I'd see him smile -- because he always looked, maybe,
When I talk to your Uncle Pete, he tells me, he says
says things, boy, people listened --
>> Kenneth Peters: That's.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --and he had this aura about him. But did you ever notice
that he had a sense of humor?
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Lee would be most happy -- I think, when the babies
were around, I could always seem him, had a big smile on his face. He loved to
smoke cigars, in those days. And he played Santa Claus at our house. It was at a
family reunion. We had Christmas Eve at our house and us kids we'd all open
presents. Well, Uncle Lee was the Santa Claus, and we'd always have to wait for
him to smoke the cigar before we could open presents. And so he'd sit down -and I swear he had the biggest cigar in the world, and so that was -- and he'd
get on his knees and when he'd see the little people, they'd always smile and
he'd always be happy and go lucky. He was a very formal type of person.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And there was times I'd go to his house -- you go to his
house on a Sunday afternoon and he'd be sitting in his chair with his white
shirt and tie on, sitting at home reading the paper and ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What were the signs if you knew sometimes that he was
upset? Because you're right. Many people have said he was quiet. He never seemed
to raise his voice. But when did you, when did you know, he’s sort of serious
and he's really ->> Kenneth Peters: When Uncle Lee was most serious when you knew you were in
trouble --
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- is when we used to walk up to his office and sit down and
talk to him. But when he'd say stand up and close the door, oh, my God and sit
down and you were in for trouble.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew you were in the principal's office, huh?
>> Kenneth Peters: Big time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Big time.
>> Kenneth Peters: And, in fact, one time I've got to say one thing is shortly
after my dad passed away, there was a Haigazian College fundraiser and Dad
always looked forward to everything Uncle Lee did, I mean, this was it. And Dad
passed away in June and this fundraiser in July and they were involved in it and
everything and I was the bartender, one of the bartenders. Well, there's one
drink for you, one drink for me, one drink for you, one drink for me. And so
apparently, they flew this President of this university in Beirut over there,
and so Uncle Lee brings him up and he's going to be introducing him to Kenneth.
Well, I was, bad shape, very bad; so I didn't say no more. I guess I embarrassed
the devil out of him. So I'll never forget, I walked into his office, he stood
up that day, he put his hand on my shoulder and he looked in my eyes and he
says, Kenneth, -- well, that was the ultimate. They always call me Butch, you
know, that's -- and.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew.
>> Kenneth
And do you
what, so I
And I just
two drinks
Peters: Yeah. He said, do you have a problem? What's your problem?
need help? Do you need this? Do you need that? Well, I'll tell you
told him -- it was -- I was wrong. There's no question about that.
told him. But, you know, the rest of his life he never saw me with
in my body, more, never.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What do you think, you know, from a family perspective,
here you have an uncle that really did rise to such a level not only because it
is business success and not only because of his philanthropy, but because of
his, his values and his ethics, why do you think people, in terms of -- elevated
him to such status?
>> Kenneth Peters: I think they probably elevate him to the status because he
earned it. I really feel that way. I mean, they -- he did stuff and people
respected him and, you know, it was kind of this way. I really feel that way. I
don't think anybody gave him anything that he didn't deserve, if that's the
right thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure. In terms of the family, the family has been very
much involved and perpetuate, you know, I look at Pete Peters Foundation, Leon
S. Peters Foundation, all of your involvement in continuing that legend of
philanthropy. How is it that as you begin that culture that Pete started or
rather Leon started in the community has been perpetuated -- did you all catch
on to it?
>> Kenneth Peters: No basically, what it was -- and I've given a copy to Tammy
Lau of his original thing. I gave it the other day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was in his will that he's left a Foundation and that his
desires were education, medical, his culture. He left a series of things and he
wanted to be continued. And at that time there was a board, it was basically
Auntie Alice, and his Uncle Pete -- and we were kind of rubber stamps, if that's
the right word. We were over there doing this stuff. And thank God for Uncle
Pete because Uncle Pete turned it into a business. Uncle Pete grew the
Foundation, made it into an absolute business and that's what it was. And we
were -- and we got chosen to be on the Board, which I'm very proud of. We get no
pay or nothing else for it. I mean, there's -- we could even get a basketball
ticket out of the Foundation. I'm serious.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's what it was. And so there's a board and he was a
legacy and this is what his wishes were, and we're trying to be the best
stewards that we know how to perpetuate what he started.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I was telling Bud Richter and some of the members of the
committee, I think you were there the other day about having my grandchildren in
town ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- and we were visiting the zoo. We were visiting the
Metropolitan Museum. And even as four year olds, we begin to say gee, this Leon
has Pete Peters Foundation, they must have been pretty important people. And
anywhere you go in this community, not only in this community, but, I guess, in
terms of the Armenian College and other areas, because I guess the limits were
not only to this area, but to other, outside the area as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: It was done to other areas as well, however, the main impetus
is Fresno; Fresno, this local area. And it's not to help any one person, ethnic
group, or any of that kind of stuff, it's the hardest thing to do is to find
where you can help everybody. It doesn't matter who you are. And I don't like
people making profits you know, stuff like that would.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Of course.
>> Kenneth Peters: And we paint a very nice town of this. We're making it better
all the time.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You certainly have.
>> Kenneth Peters: And it's, you know, you look at the college, it's nice. I
look at the high school or look at libraries and Fowler especially or here at
the college and we start looking at the River Park. I don't know. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Certainly.
>> Kenneth Peters: And the zoo. And it helps everybody who comes.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: At the end of the day, there's lots of people have
learned, as you said, he was your mentor, but, if you had to sort of pick one or
two things that had the greatest impact upon your life because of Uncle Lee,
what would probably be the thing that would stand out? And I know this is a
difficult question. But probably.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Lee taught me three words, and I didn't know what
he says at the time, and I studied them. He says, honesty, integrity, and
service.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Honesty, integrity, and service.
>> Kenneth Peters: And those were my uncle's -- they came out of his mouth. I
mean, I didn't know what it meant at the time. I went home and I'm reading this
thing. What is -- what's he saying and I figured it out. And of course, him
being a Rotarian, everything on the Rotary Creed was very high to him. Because,
I know when I was in his office and there were times I was in there, and he was
upset with some of the wine makers or somebody like that, he would say I told
him, what about the Rotary Creed, and the guy was saying that doesn't apply to
this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, actually Leon's life sort of did model the
Rotary Creeds.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Service above self.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You know, is it fair to all concerned, and you go down
there -- and you're right, he could have written that Rotary Creed.
>> Kenneth Peters: And that's the way he lived his life. Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. Let's take just a second and I'll let you look at
his [speaking simultaneously].
>> Kenneth Peters: No. I've done pretty good. Yeah. There's only one other thing
that I was going to tell you.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: You can cut and paste.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay. We will.
>> Kenneth Peters: Or delete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I doubt that we want to delete much of this.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, anyway, my uncle was not isolated from any one
individual. It didn't matter who you were, what you were, or what walk of life
you came in. He talked to them. I know that through the Foundation -- I mean,
some minister came in and said something about his church and so Uncle Lee
painted his church, and we still donate, you know, keep the church going. And I
think that was great. And we had a worker working for us and he was kind of like
our babysitter. He worked for my dad before they got married. And he was
alcoholic. And when he put his black hat on, he'd get, you know, he was on a
drunk. But one day he had something he was going to vent. I don't know what he
did. So he went to Uncle Lee's office and he walked in and he sat down and
vented his things. And Uncle Lee got up and looked at him and Uncle Lee filled
his pocket full of cigars -- this guy's cigars. And this guy comes walking in
our house and said, I went and saw Leo, he gave me cigars. And he sobered up,
went back to work. It was his -- that was my uncle.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: So he was accessive of people -- he was accessible to all
kinds of folks.
>> Kenneth Peters: He was accessible to all people. Even -- he usually had his
door open. Very seldom he had his door closed. And [inaudible] his door open and
he was on the telephone. Sit down. But that's the way he was to everybody. It
just wasn't me.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Is there anything I should have probably asked you
that I didn't ask you, that any last sort of thoughts on Uncle Lee?
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, my uncle was a perfectionist. He managed everything
nice. And he and my dad were partners on a farm for their entire life.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The entire?
>> Kenneth Peters: Entire life. It was Peters Brothers Ranch.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: Dad stayed on the farm and Uncle Lee went over there. And
actually, Uncle Shorty stayed on the farm and Uncle Pete went over to the
Foundry too. So there was two partnerships, really. And we'd have to have
everything just spit shined and perfect. I mean, everything was out there,
because you never knew when Uncle Lee was going to bring his friends out and
show them our farms.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes.
>> Kenneth Peters: And just -- so we always had to have everything in tip-top
shape for my uncle so we wouldn't embarrass him.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What was it about agriculture that helped really shape
his, not only his business philosophy, but that ag background of -- because he
initially, you know, he grew up and that's how he begin to, I think, you know,
as a salesman sell ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- ag implements.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, when he and Dad were on the farm, there wasn't enough
money for two bachelors so Uncle Lee went and got a job, worked for Mr. Keithly
->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- at Valley Foundry and then that was a losing proposition.
And so my uncle had foresight, lots of foresight.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He really was a visionary.
>> Kenneth Peters: Yes. Because he worked for Keithly, and Keithly wanted to
sell it, or close it down or something. And Uncle Lee said, let me manage it.
And when I make a profit, I'll buy it from you. So, Uncle Lee worked for no
salary. He had his own car. He went for five years managing that place and
finally showed a profit, and he bought it from Keithly and the rest is history.
But I guess that was his niche. He had a foresight, you know. Of course, a lot
of times, times came along and the end of prohibition and he started making
tanks and crushers and what have you. So I mean, you know, you got to -- but he
had to have enough inside of him to see these things were happening.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, Ken, nephew of Leon S. Peters, you give me
tremendous insight that no one else can offer on Leon S. Peters as an uncle, as
a family person, and Uncle Lee would certainly be proud –>> Kenneth Peters: You know he was a –>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: --of what you do. And your family have continued that
legend of giving to the community and caring about them.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he was a great person. There's -- he was a very great
person. I was going to say one thing. The last time I saw my uncle was in the
hospital, and he was terminally ill. And Uncle Lee used to like salmon, that was
his favorite fish. And every time I go fishing, I'd bring him fish and
everything. So Uncle Lee was in the hospital and we knew the end was there. And
I'd go in to San Francisco on a trip, and that was the day that we went up
there, and fishing was terrible. I mean, I couldn't believe how bad it was. At
the end of the -- by -- that whole day, toward the end of the day, I caught one
little bitty fish. It was barely a keeper. And I brought it to the hospital and
I told the cooks over there, please, cook this for my uncle. And then when I
went to see my uncle afterward, he told me it was a good fish. But he said, that
was sure a bony fish you brought.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A small one. But how did ->> Kenneth Peters: But that was the best fish I ever caught.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. How did your uncle approach death? How did Leon
S. Peters, when he was -- he knew -- obviously, he knew it was toward the end.
Did he show any signs? Did ->> Kenneth Peters: No. He said -- we were at Dick Alanjian's place when we told
him that he was sick -- told me that he was sick. And he said, well, he said,
I've got a cancer in my liver, he told me. And he said, that the doctors said
that there's no problem. He said, we're going to put a pump in me so I'll be in
good shape, and that's all he talked about. He was very positive. We talked
about it. And then I believed him for every word he said.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sure.
>> Kenneth Peters: I didn't know any different.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He was your uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so that's what it was. And he was very positive clear up
until the last time I saw him. But he had a good attitude. I guess, he was
pretty damn sick when he went to the plant, through the last time. I guess I
didn't.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Bud is there any other thing I should ->> Bud Richter: Maybe you should ask him about Pete. Did you have any thoughts
about Uncle Pete?
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. A great idea. Uncle Pete, we've enjoyed giving an
insight as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your other uncle.
>> Kenneth Peters: Well, Uncle Pete -- if it doesn't come out exactly right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's okay. We'll cut and paste it.
>> Kenneth Peters: Okay. Uncle Pete's was following his big brother. Uncle Pete
was six years old when he lost his mother.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: He really didn't have a role model. My uncle was his role
model. Uncle put him under his shoulder. And Uncle Pete's a very brilliant
person. And so it was Uncle Pete and Uncle Lee all the time, like this. And
Uncle Pete gave his soul to the Valley Foundry. That was his to this day.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: He seemed to be the implementer. In other words, when
things needed to be built, ->> Kenneth Peters: Yeah.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- he had the technical knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: Oh, no, he had the brains to do all this.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Lee had the ideas in there, and then is that a correct ->> Kenneth Peters: It's a very correct thing.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- insight. Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete was the one that made the tanks that they put
together in pieces out on the job, and Uncle Pete was that end of it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Those stainless steel tanks were really -- in terms of,
if you look at today, he was so far ahead of his time because no one had
constructed the size of those tanks, and it took someone with real knowledge.
>> Kenneth Peters: That was strictly Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah. So he was able, so he was able to implement the
ideas, [inaudible] the ideas that Uncle Lee had.
>> Kenneth Peters: And then his Uncle Lee got older in his wisdom or whatever it
was, you know, none of us -- we were on a farm, we were doing our thing and
nobody was able to really take care of the business or continue the business,
and that's when he merged with Ametek.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>> Kenneth Peters: And he merged with Ametek Corporation, and he stayed on as
the manager for umpteen years. You never even knew it changed hands.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: I oftentimes think of your Uncle Pete as sort of like
equivalent to Rafer Johnson and Jimmy Johnson. Here you had a world-class
athlete and Jimmy Johnson class, but he always was sort of under the shadow ->> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of his brother Rafer.
>> Kenneth Peters: Right.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And a lot of the people, the more we get to know about
Pete Peters, he was a legend in giant in his community as well.
>> Kenneth Peters: And Uncle Pete carried -- took the baton and carried it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yes. That's a good way of putting it.
>> Kenneth Peters: And when he got the -- when Uncle Lee passed away, there was
a Foundation. It was Uncle Pete.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Yeah.
>> Kenneth Peters: Uncle Pete got in and rolled up his sleeves and he's made it
to what it is today, because he's run it quite a bit from what it was then.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. He really has.
>> Kenneth Peters: And so this is good so.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You bet. And it continues. Well, Ken, we can't thank you
enough for the insights that you have offered. They are very, very special. And
to be able to capture this and pass it on to -- just as Uncle Lee mentored you,
he mentored many of us in the community, which we are very, very grateful for.
And not only the Leon S. Peters, but the Pete Peters Foundation. Graciousness
and wanting to assist and have the archiving of all this, thousands of students
down the road.
>> Kenneth Peters: But, you know, this is a very important project in my
estimation, because it was just a bunch of papers that they were scads would be
thrown away and nobody cared and we kept them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, thank goodness you had the insight ->> Kenneth Peters: Boy ->> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: -- of keeping this.
>> Kenneth Peters: -- tell me about it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Your vision [speaking simultaneously]
>> Kenneth Peters: And I didn't have any vision at that time. I just did it
because I did it.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, that's good, because you knew what was important
and thank God you did. You're the one that was keeping not only that, but other
things that you've kept.
>> Kenneth Peters: And I'm just very happy for that. And I'm glad that there's
people that are going to keep these things for future generations. Because I
felt at that time if I had them, which I did, -- my kids don't even know I have
-- let alone, nieces and nephews, and future generations, they would have got
lost to history.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right.
>> Kenneth Peters: This way everybody can use them whoever wants them.
>> Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Right. Well, we're very, very grateful. And again, we're
very appreciative of your time and your sharing of your stories. Thank you.
>> Kenneth Peters: Thank you.
[Silence]
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====