White gloves, bright red jackets and honking horns brought vibrancy to downtown Kirkland at 6 a.m. on Friday. It was all a part of remembering Kirkland resident Bill Petter who brought joy to many Kirklanders. Petter died of a heart attack earlier in the week at age 79.

“He touched thousands of people’s lives,” said Bill’s son Terry Petter. “We had a little doubt at first that people would show up this early. But this is dad’s day.”

More than 150 people took Petter’s place on his morning walk from Sur Le Table in downtown Kirkland, south down Lake Washington Boulevard to Houghton Beach Park and back. The walk drew family, friends, Kirkland City Council members, Kiwanians and many others. Local TV news crews even showed up to cover the event.

“This is Kirkland. It doesn’t surprise me,” said Councilmember Bob Sternoff about the turnout. “My dad used to walk with Bill. I always had a connection with him because I used to be in the auto industry.”

The start of the walk near the corner of Lake Washington Boulevard and Central was fitting as Petter owned Bel-Kirk Motors there for nearly four decades. Many of his family and friends wore bright red Bel-Kirk jackets in his memory. But the thing that made the group standout were their white gloves, which motorists knew Petter to wear in order to be seen waving at them before the sun came up.

“My wife gave him his white gloves,” said Terry. “It was partially so people could see him in the dark.”

The other reason was Petter’s love for Mickey Mouse.

“I think this is great,” said Petter’s brother, Gordy Petter. “He loved his friends and he had a lot of them.”

The idea for the walk came from his grandsons Ben and Kris.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Kris. “He had such a big impact on the community.”

Gordy said that his brother was always giving. That giving benefited many in Kirkland and the Puget Sound, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the March of Dimes, Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing (KITH), the Kirkland Kiwanis Club and many others.

One of his biggest impacts in Kirkland came as a board member emeritus of KITH, for which Petter helped establish Petter Court, two low-income four-plex housing developments. Petter had such an impact on the organization that they established an annual award in his honor – the Bill Petter Homeless Advocate Award.

“Bill Petter was a highly valued member of KITH’s community,” said KITH Development Director Christine Addison. “Bill served on the KITH Board of Directors for 18 years, tirelessly advocating for and providing homeless housing and human services for those in greatest need. KITH’s Petter Court I and II properties are named after the Bill Petter family. The Bill Petter Homeless Housing Advocate Award, beginning in 2010, is given each year to an individual for exceptional dedication and investment of time, talent and treasure to further KITH’s work helping homeless families transition to stability and self-sufficiency.”

Petter also raised nearly $150,000 for the March of Dimes March for Babies during the past 12 years. This year he was in the process of raising $40,000 for the March of Dimes. He also served on the city’s Civil Service Commission.

“He was a longstanding member of our community,” said Kirkland Fire Chief Kevin Nalder, who worked with Petter on the Civil Service Commission. “He was such a great guy and I had great respect for him. He was well loved … It would be nice to have more Bill Petters in the world.”