Peter, 75, was born in Osaka, Japan, while his father was working for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission after WWII. After graduating from high school he spent the summer working on a freighter that took him to South Africa and several countries along Africa’s east coast. This experience sparked an interest in African music including artists like Miriam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Congolese Latin mass, Missa Luba. He earned a B.A. in biology from Boston University before joining the Peace Corps in Brazil, where he worked with the indigenous communities in Mato Grosso and became fluent in Portuguese. It was in São Paolo that he met his wife, Luzia, and he remained in Brazil to earn an M.A. in metallurgy and materials engineering from the University of Rio de Janeiro. He and his wife travelled extensively around South America before moving to the US in 1980 and purchasing their home in Stow in 1986.
He dedicated 18 years to Duracell, where his expertise in battery technology left a lasting impact. He specified the materials and design of the widely used AA and AAA alkaline batteries, earning patents along the way. His innovative work also extended to Zn/air and Li/MnO2 batteries, as he pushed the boundaries of design and material specifications. After his time at Duracell, he took on the challenge of designing and installing a clean room for fabrication of H2/air fuel cell electrodes at Giner Electrochemical Systems, where he worked as a project manager for three years on technology integral to advancing H2/air fuel cells.
Outside his work environment Peter enjoyed a sometimes eccentric and unpredictable sense of humor. He favored mischief and off-the-wall jokes. He kept a peanut butter jar holding a spring-loaded fake snake intended to startle each of his family members, especially his nieces. There was the time he arrived for dinner carrying a slice of pizza, and on being greeted once again very enthusiastically by our dog he tossed the pizza toward the dog to calm it down. On another occasion during a backyard barbecue he surprised everyone by pouring some of his beer on the grass and encouraging the dog to try it. His nieces watched every episode of The Three Stooges with him and counted on him to mimic the comical facial expressions and antics. When his second cousin, Pam Warner, wanted to learn to drive a standard transmission, the family’s third car, a tiny Simca 1000, was selected for the job. At Peter’s inspiration he and his brother jumped into the back seat to tease her, and she drove around a large empty parking lot without any mishap in spite of the added pressure of being alone in the front with hecklers in the back.
Peter was predeceased by his charming and wonderful wife, Luzia, who passed away on October 31, 2012. He is survived by his daughter, Marcia Cloutier of Stow, his brother Robert and his wife Maggie of Acton, and his two nieces: Megaera and her husband Scott Miller of Philadelphia, and Jessica and her husband Patrick Orlando of Westborough.