WAYLAND: Peter J. Drevinsky, passed away peacefully at age 92 on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.
He was married for 62 years to the love of his life, Dorothy J. (Wayner) Drevinsky; daughter of the late Peter C. Wayner and Stella (Koc) Wayner.
Peter leaves his two sons, David Matthew Drevinsky and Peter Charles Drevinsky.
He was born in Middleboro, MA, son of the late Clements Drevinsky and Veronica “Sadie” (Waticumas) Drevinsky. A graduate of Middleboro High School with the Class of 1943, he played baseball, hockey, tournament cribbage and took up bowling achieving numerous competitive sport trophies.
Peter was Director of Boys Sports Activities at the Middleboro Park Department. Peter coached, managed, and chauffeured the Senior League All Star Baseball Team which played in SE Massachusetts. Peter was Batboy for Bill Sheehy’s Middleboro Ramblers in the Thirties. He enjoyed swimming at Silver Beach, weekend baseball games at McCoy Stadium, Scouting and bee keeping. He disliked bee stings; however, loved honey.
Peter joined the United States Army from 1943 to 1946; serving in the 26th Yankee Division across Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern France and Rhineland in the Battle of the Bulge where he earned combat infantryman’s badge in four battle regions. After honorable discharge, he graduated cum laude in Chemistry at UMASS, Amherst. He studied Nuclear Chemistry at MIT and Clark from 1951 to 1958; working summers at National Fireworks and Ordnance Corporation where he created and field tested various high explosive mixtures.
Following his doctorate of science at Clark, Peter went on to teach General Chemistry for one year at Clark. Perhaps inspired by Linus Carl Pauling, he joined Hanscom Air Force Base, and worked as a Research Scientist on world-wide air mass circulation, causes for degradation of space solar cells, improvement of space solar cells in radiation environments and detection of low levels of radioactivity at Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory for 40 years.
After retirement, he mentored students in Chemistry at Wayland High School. Throughout his research career, Peter published over 400 papers on radiation effects on silicon wafer chips; and, had the opportunity to present his findings at two Material Research Science Conferences held in Austria and Japan. He also enjoyed Expo 1967, Golfing and POPS concerts at Plymouth State University. In 2015, Peter was awarded the French Legion Medal of Honor by Republic of France and was published in Le quotidien des GI: La bataille des Ardennes by Denis Hambucken.
Family and friends are invited to gather at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte. 30), Wayland on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 9:00 am followed by Peter’s Mass of Christian Burial at Good Shepherd Parish at St. Zepherin Church, 99 Main Street (Rte, 27), Wayland at 10:00 am.
Interment will follow in the Drevinsky family lot in St. Zepherin Cemetery, Bent Avenue, Wayland.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be sent to the American Heart Association, PO Box 417005, Boston, MA 02241-7005 and would be appreciated.