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A military honor guard folds a U.S. flag on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, to present to the parents of J. Parker Christensen, 28, of Ogden, a Navy veteran who was killed in a plane crash Aug. 13. (Photo supplied, Christensen family)

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Jackie Gold and her son Tyson Peterson at his high school graduation. (Photo supplied, Peterson family)

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J. Parker Christensen. (Photo supplied, Christensen family)

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Kallie Edwards Peterson’s former co-workers at the Lucky Slice pizza shop in Logan will continue the tradition she helped start of wearing bucket hats on Saturday shifts.

Her husband, Tyson Ronald Peterson, will be remembered especially by his nieces and nephews, who gravitated toward him, his loved ones said.

And J. Parker Christensen left an example of determination and vigor that made him one of a kind, his father said.

Mourners have been paying their respects to the three young Northern Utahns who were killed in a plane crash in the mountains east of Bountiful on Aug. 15.

Kallie Peterson and Christensen were certified commercial pilots. According to relatives, Christensen was taking the Petersons on a flight to mark their first wedding anniversary. Kallie Peterson was Christensen’s former flight instructor. The Cessna 182 went down in a remote area and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause.

Christensen received military honors before his funeral in Ogden on Saturday, including a rifle salute and the presentation of a folded American flag to his parents. Christensen, 28, had served as a Navy rescue diver before getting into piloting after his time in the service.

In Logan, a scholarship fund has been established in memory of the Petersons. Tyson Peterson, 25, was a recent Utah State University graduate who was preparing to study dentistry. Kallie Peterson, 24, had an aviation technology degree from Utah State and had just been hired by SkyWest Airlines to join her pilot father there.

A visitation for the Petersons is scheduled from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Thursday at Hooper Pioneer Trails Stake Center, 4979 S. 5100 West, Hooper, to be followed by an open service.

Kallie Peterson was Emily Pickering’s shift leader at Lucky Slice in Logan. “She was just the most beautiful soul,” Pickering said Monday. “She was the mom of the shop and took care of everybody and made sure everybody was doing their job and doing it right.”

Pickering said Peterson’s personality was addicting to others. “I think she was absolutely hilarious and charming and outgoing,” she said. “A lot of people are mourning this loss. I don’t know one person who couldn’t get along with her.”

Pickering said her sister was afraid to fly, and she told Peterson. So each time before a flight, Peterson would check the weather patterns and tell Pickering’s sister, reassuring her.

The Petersons “were so much in love,” Pickering said, recalling how often Kallie talked about Tyson.

Pickering said the Lucky Slice crew is excited about the scholarship fund, which each year will offer a scholarship to a Fremont High School student to Utah State, where the couple met.

Christensen’s father, Stewart, and younger brother, Cade, spoke at his funeral, relating how much in awe they were of him.

“There is only one word in the English language that could sum up Parker, and that word is great,” Cade Christensen said. “Parker’s soul is easily 1,000 years old. That boy lived more than most could in 1,000 lifetimes.”

He said his brother “lived by the saying, ‘Get out there, take that chance, and remember, a little fear is good.’ He even pushed it past that limit,” living a life “that pretty much anyone would be proud of.”

He said Parker “treats everyone he meets with respect, chivalry and, most importantly, love.”

Stewart Christensen said he “finally realized what Parker was made of” at Boy Scout Camp, when his then-12-year-old son decided he wanted to qualify for the mile swim merit badge in the glacier-fed lake waters at Camp Loll in Wyoming, something rarely attempted by such a young Scout.

“To him, there was just no doubt,” said the father, recalling that a mountain storm developed during the swim. “It didn’t matter how hard the storm was going to rage, he was going to touch that flag.”

Parker Christensen was accepted as a Navy Seal, and after suffering a leg injury during training he was transferred into the Navy’s search and rescue diving program.

After the service, he worked as a commercial deep sea diver before returning to land and becoming an adventurous pilot, his obituary said.

“His life was met head-on, straight-on, at full force, gas on the throttle, but never looking back,” Stewart Christensen said.