Deceased August 7, 2014
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In Memory
Although we have not seen Pete personally for many years, we remember his exploits on the basketball court. Our senior year, Pete averaged 16 points a game, many as a result of his memorable set shot, often from beyond today’s 3-point arc. He set a team record with a 39-point game against MIT. Pete was on the first team of the Springfield Union All-Western Massachusetts team that year. Team captain Gerry Benson ’55 sent me a copy of the newspaper article describing the Feb. 19, 1955, game in which the Jeffs upset previously undefeated Williams, 68–60. Pete paced all scorers with 25 points in spite of playing much of the second half with four fouls. It was Pete’s greatest game of his career. He shared the team’s Captain’s Trophy in 1955.
Pete was born Jan. 31, 1934, and came to Amherst from Lyons Township High School in suburban Chicago. He was a Theta Delt and majored in religion. Pete was in the glee club and was a member of the Zumbyes junior year. In the fall of 1954, Pete and Harvey Schick ’55 worked together to organize a Christian Science religious group at the College. Bud Sorenson ’55 lived with Pete two years at Amherst and remembers him as a wonderful friend and roommate.
After graduation, Pete earned a law degree from George Washington University in 1971 and worked in the Washington, D.C., area as a management consultant. Fellow Zumbye Ron Gregson ’55 looked him up when he was in the D.C. area in the mid-’70s. Ron said Pete was not happy with reaching middle-age, saying memorably, “My mother never told me I’d be 40 someday.”
Well, Pete did live to age 40 and then some. He moved to Mexico in the 1980s and lived there until his death on Aug. 7, 2014.
Rob Sowersby ’55