Sturbridge: Christian J. Petersen, 78, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 6 ^th , in his home.

He leaves his wife of 5 years, Lynne (DiGregorio) Sarty Petersen; his son, Christian Petersen and his wife Tara of Holland; his daughter, Mia Petersen and her husband Marc Stern of Franklin, TN; his stepson, Nathan Sarty and his wife Diane of Denver, CO; and his five grandchildren, Grace Petersen, Isabella Petersen, Cassidy Petersen, Deagan Sarty and Evalina Sarty.  He was born in New Rochelle, NY the son of Emil and Olga (Boryczka) Petersen.  He was a graduate of West Springfield High School then attended American International College.  He served in the US Navy as a communications technician stationed in Guam and Edsel, Scotland.  He then received his Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College.

Christian first worked in the medical field maintaining and repairing medical instrumentation, then supporting computer systems and then as a technical hardware instructor for Data General.

An avid sailor for many years he sailed extensively in the islands of both New England and the Caribbean.  He spent two months navigating the canal systems of New York, the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain.  Christian was an active biker, hiker and kayaker.  He was also an accomplished skier and scuba diver, diving in Belize, Honduras, Key West, the Caribbean and Socorro Islands.  He also traveled to many other places around the globe including traveling on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul and journeying to the Artic Circle on a Russian icebreaker.

A celebration of his life will be planned for some time next summer.