services - Idyllwild Town Crier

By Marshall Smith
Correspondent
From the age of 18, Robert
Peek, now 53, wanted to
be a park ranger. “But my
dad said you couldn’t support
a family on a ranger’s
salary,” said Peek, who instead
went into banking, his
father’s profession, after college.
But long-held dreams
die hard, and last October,
Peek, with his wife Judi’s
full support and encouragement,
joined 32 other
cadets, ranging in age from
23 to 53, at the state’s ranger
training academy in Pacific
Grove.
Why now Because he
could. His children were
raised, and Judi, his second
wife, supported Peek’s
finding his dream and preserving
his smile. “He had
the desire in his heart [to
become a ranger] and I
just wanted to be married
to a man who was happy,”
said a glowing Judi, proud
that her partner in life had
excelled at the academy and
Dream for last 35 years comes true
graduated as class salutatorian
on June 27. His 26
graduating classmates, after
months of gentle razzing
about being “grandpa” and
“over the hill,” selected Peek
as salutatorian because he
had set the pace for many
of them throughout their
academy training and stood
out as a model of strength,
resolve and decency.
Peek remembered the
words of Ruth Coleman,
California State Parks director,
when addressing the
graduating class: “There are
jobs, careers and passions.”
Peek, in graduating, finally
found his career, coupled
with his passion.
When asked why he
wanted to be a ranger and
what drew him to that particular
life, Peek said, “I
wanted to be able to protect
the wilderness from others
[who might harm it] and
protect people from harm
in the wilderness. Seeing
the trash on trails as a kid,
I wanted to be in a position
to enforce what I believed
in.”
In his new career, Peek
is a certified peace officer,
trained in rifles and handguns
and consequently able
to enforce the peace within
his State Park jurisdictions.
After three months of field
training at Lake Perris, basically
learning the ropes
from an experienced officer,
Peek will take up his
first assignment as “Ranger
Bob” at the Salton Sea State
Recreation Area.
Judi remembers in the
past when they would pass
Humboldt State University,
Peek would say, “If I
had only gone there, I’d
be a ranger by now.” His
moment came when he
shared his regrets with State
Ranger Eddie Guarancha.
Guarancha handed Peek an
application and said, “Here,
take this. There’s no age
limitation.” Judi remembered
that, with application
in hand, “He skipped out of
the park.”
After turning in his application,
Peek was twice
turned down — the first
time he was told he did
not meet the educational
requirements, and the second
because of high blood
pressure. Peek overcame the
first through administrative
perseverance and the
second through dedication
and physical conditioning.
It didn’t hurt that Judi is a
personal trainer.
Although Peek said he
lost 10 pounds during the
academy training, he noted,
“None of the physical tests
were age-skewed. I had to
do the same things that
23-year-olds did.”
And he did — he just
did them better.
M a r s h a l l S m i t h
c a n b e r e a c h e d a t
marshall@towncrier.com.
Idyllwild Town Crier, July 17, 2008 - Page 9
Judi Way encouraged husband Robert Peek to pursue his dream
of being a park ranger. “I wanted to be married to a man who
was happy,” said Judi. Clearly, both are happy in Robert’s realizing
a dream he’s held for 35 years. Photo by Marshall Smith
Strange but true
Historians say that Mary, Queen of Scots, was informed of the murder of her
husband, Lord Darnley, in 1567 while she was playing golf. She must have been
quite a dedicated sportswoman (or an indifferent wife) because they also say that
she completed the round.
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