Stig Goran Pettersson

Stig “Stiggy” Goran Pettersson died peacefully at home surrounded by family on December 18th, 2022 in Woodruff, South Carolina. He was 79 years old. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Deborah, his children Yvette Frost, Richard Jeffrey, Scott Pettersson, and his wife Stacey, and his son-in-law Lars Sjolander, his siblings Rolf Pettersson, Olle Pettersson, Ake Pettersson and Inga Schmidt as well as nine beloved grandchildren, cherished nieces and nephews and many life-long friends. He is preceded in death by his parents Gustav and Elsa Pettersson, his sister May Nilsson, and his daughter Malin Sjolander.
He was born in Strangnas, Sweden on April 22nd, 1943 to Gustav Pettersson and Elsa Selin Pettersson. In 1986, Stig moved to the United States as a permanent resident, settling in California. He married Deborah in 1988 and they settled in Orange County, CA. The couple enjoyed spending time with family and friends and traveling the beautiful USA and the world together.
He was a respected figure in the motocross, off-road, and road racing community. He started his career as a mechanic for World Motocross Champion Brad Lackey, he was then hired as the Öhlins suspension technician for Yamaha’s Motocross and Road Racing teams. He went on to fine-tune the suspension for some of the world’s top racing teams and in 1990 he and Deborah opened Pettersson Pro Suspension (PPS) in Anaheim, CA. In 2010 they-closed up shop and moved to North Carolina where Stig continued his career at Öhlins until retiring in 2020. They just recently relocated to South Carolina. Stiggy will be remembered by his family and friends as a kind, honest, gentle and humble person and he will be missed by many people around the world.
A celebration of life is scheduled for his family, friends and colleagues on January 21 st , at 12:00pm and will be held at Öhlins USA, 703 S. Grove Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792. Another celebration of life will be held in California, at a later date and time to be announced.
The family would like to thank everyone for the condolences and kind words they’ve received. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to help with Stig’s medical costs and end of life expenses via PayPal @deborahpettersson or to a charity of your choice in Stig’s name.