Deceased December 2, 2016
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In Memory
Though Pete was with our class for only one year, once he reestablished contact with the College in 2010, he affirmed his regard for classmates and remained in touch until his death on Dec. 2, 2016. Pete is survived by three children and one grandson.
After leaving Amherst, he served for two years in the 82nd Airborne, and then earned a B.A. from the University of Vermont, moving to its medical school for his M.D. He interned at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City and held residencies at St. Luke’s and at the Hartford Hospital while becoming board certified in obstetrics and gynecology.
For several years, Pete practiced all over the Key West archipelago, piloting his own plane. His interest in flying led him to become an FAA Examiner, and to include flight medicine in the practice he later opened in Pembroke, Maine. He lived with his life partner, Helen Swallow, on a saltwater farm on Cobscook Bay.
At Amherst, I knew Pete as an enthusiastic fellow member of our freshman football team and as a fellow pledge to Psi Upsilon. In the last few years we corresponded about a number of things, including a mutual interest in Shakespeare. In one of his class letter contributions, Pete mentioned sharing a phone call with Jeff Keener ’54, talking about their experiences with Parkinson’s and their success in living a full life despite the diagnosis. I regret my failure to make good on a plan to get to Pete’s corner of far northern Maine to extend the conversations we had on email and to learn more of what had clearly been an adventurous and accomplished life.
Thomas H Blackburn ’54