May 31, 1934 — October 15, 2018
The year that he was born, his parents opened a restaurant — The Indian Trail — in Winnetka, Illinois. It became an important part of the family until 1988, with all their children and grandchildren working there.
Peter graduated from New Trier High School in 1952 where he was a member of the baseball team. Later, he attended Northwestern University and played on the freshman baseball team. He joined Delta Upsilon fraternity and served a term as their president. He received a degree in Civil Engineering in 1957. He also earned a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from Northwestern in 1959.
He immediately became an Assistant Professor at North Dakota State University in Fargo for three terms. In late 1959, he became a Teaching Associate at the University of California in Berkeley.
From 1963-64, he was a Research Associate there with Dr. Hans Albert Einstein as his major professor.
On a Ford Foundation program he served as a visiting professor for 2 years at Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago while completing his PhD in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley.
In 1966, he arrived at Oregon State University where he began as an Assistant Professor. In two years, he became an Associate Professor and the assistant director of the Water Resources Institute on campus. By 1970, he was the Acting Director of that Institute.
During his 1973-74 sabbatical leave, he was an Academic Guest at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. After returning to OSU, he won the Loyld Carter Award for “Outstanding and Inspirational Teaching” in the School of Engineering. He also became the Director of the Water Resources Institute until 1989. Meanwhile, he was promoted to Professor in 1976. From 1989-91, he was Acting Department Head of Civil Engineering.
Also, he was a member of the Technical Steering Panel for the Hanford Dose Reconstruction Project and a member of the Snake River Salmon Recovery Team for the National Marine Fisheries Service until 1996.
The Oregon section of American Society of Engineers gave Pete their award for “Outstanding Civil Engineer” in 1984. He also assisted OSU students with building and racing concrete canoes. He also enjoyed international travel and conferences on Gravel Bed Rivers and hosted one for OSU at Gold Bar, Washington, in 1995. He was one of the founders of the River Restoration Northwest gatherings at Skamania Lodge in February.
In Corvallis, he was a member of the First Congregational Church UCC and on the Board of Trustees, as well as a Holy Sox softball player. He was a charter member of Timberhill Tennis Club and a member of the Model Railroad Club and Benton County Museum.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Michael Chen, Rev. Caroline Zaworski, the staff of Corvallis Manor and all who visited during his illness.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to First Congregational UCC or River Restoration Northwest scholarships.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. on November 17 at the First Congregational UCC, 4515 SW West Hills Road, Corvallis.