106 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 1 JANUARY 2022
Sundays cheering for the Seattle Seahawks. However, he was a self-described
fair-weather fan and would leave if they started to lose by too much.
After high school, unsurprisingly, Peder decided to go to university. He
graduated with a degree in history from Simon Fraser University in 1971.
Peder was a lifelong learner and had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
He was a voracious reader, and his interests were endless. He could quote
Sir Francis Bacon at length, used to re-read the Iliad and the Odyssey annually,
and when he was bored would listen to audiobooks that had the lowest
circulation numbers. At the time of his passing, he was reading his 14th
book about the Lindbergh kidnapping and a guide on how to win at betting
on harness races.
With five younger siblings and an already impressive academic resume,
Peder thought that he should try becoming a teacher. This dream was shortlived,
however, as he realized he was unable to discipline children.
Like many people with an aptitude for reading and writing but a lost
sense of direction, Peder decided to attend law school. He graduated from
UBC law school in 1977. Even then, Peder was a true fan of the esoteric. His
idea of fun in law school was to go to the library and find the Dominion Law
Reports that had never been checked out and read them. It is tough to say
whether this should be attributed to his intellectual curiosity or whether he
just felt bad for the judges whose decisions no one was reading.
Peder ended his law school career in a way that those who have been
through law school can relate to. It was the final day and Peder was late finishing
his final paper for his final class. He managed to hand it in to his professor
as he was leaving his office for summer vacation and would be
unreachable. Mercifully, the professor accepted the paper.
Peder accepted an articling job at Wilson King LLP in Prince George. In
true Peder fashion, the first thing he did when he got offered the job was
take all of his brothers out golfing. For Peder, being able to give to others was
the greatest achievement in life.
Peder was called to the bar in 1978, the year his life changed forever. That
year, he met the love of his life: a young articled student named Holly
Williams. Peder would not realize this for several years. According to close
friend and fellow Provincial Court judge Vince Hogan: “Everyone knew
Peder and Holly were going to get married, except for them.” A few days
before his passing, Peder told me one of the few regrets he had in life was
that he did not realize this earlier. Peder and Holly would have celebrated
their 33rd wedding anniversary on June 18, 2021.
Missing his family and in need of a change, Peder moved to Abbotsford in
1982 to work for the B.C. Prosecution Service, where he became a highly tal-