Sunday, March 30,1980
The
Fresno
Bee
.IliSIUC.
Editorials & commentary
Travel & the arts
Leon Peters: The foundry operator
who forged a life of involvement
By DOUG HOAGLAND
Bee staff writer
Leon Peters' commitment to Fresno can be
seen on the city's skyline.
For 30 years he has invested time, energy and
money at Fresno Community Hospital and Medical Center and today it rises in downtown Fresno
as one of the area's major health care institutions.
While Peters has been involved in many other
organizations and projects, Community Hospital
has become a towering symbol of the intense
community loyalty that has shaped the life of this
immigrant farmer's son.
As president and general manager of Valley
Foundry and Machine Works, Peters has had the
financial resources and personal contacts to help
his dreams come true. And his efforts have
earned him a prominent place in Fresno's history.
But he occupies an equally prominent place in
the hearts of many Fresnans because of unheralded acts of kindness and generosity. Several years
ago, for example, Peters quietly paid for the repainting of a local church and dedicated the project to the memory of a friend who had just died.
Peters' friends talk publicly of such acts. He
does not.
Instead, he tends to his commitments without
the need or desire to bask in the public spotlight.
He tries, in fact, to avoid the accalamation that so
many people are eager to give him.
Peters said he appreciates the motives of his
friends, but he steadfastly maintains that he has
done nothing to deserve such attention. "How can
I think I'm an outstanding citizen?" he said. "I
don't think I've done as much as I could have .. .
When I look back and see what I've received from
this community and compare it to what I've done,
I've received a lot more than I've given."
Peters' words are sincere, a close friend said.
"He came from a humble background and he has
remained a humble man," the friend explained.
Peters was born in 1905 on a farm at North and
Minnewawa avenues to parents who had both
immigrated from Armenia to escape persecution
by the Turks. The family name was changed from
Pedrosian to Peters when an uncle came to the
United States at the turn of the century. Officials
at the American Bible House in Istanbul, who
helped Peters' uncle with the arrangements,
suggested the change might make resettlement
See Peters, Page F8
At left, Leon Peters inspects a machine at
Valley Foundry which unwraps rolls of
stainless steel. At the right, he is pictured
close-up at the same location with the
spokes of the machine's control wheel
framing his face.
Bee photos by Dick Darby
