Mystic - Peter F. Stuart of Mystic, a prominent lawyer, civic leader and businessman, died Monday, May 4, 2026, at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. He was 86.
Peter Fred Stuart was born June 23, 1939, in Savona, N.Y. One of seven children of Gertrude (Manning) Stuart Goodrich and Chester McKee Stuart, he was a cherished big brother and sibling. On May 30, 1964, he married the love of his life, Karin Sandal. Together they raised three children, Peter Christopher Stuart, Sandal Clay Stuart, and Grant Alan Stuart.
Peter graduated from Haverling High School in Bath, N.Y., and went on to earn his degree from Dartmouth College, Class of 1961, where he majored in international relations. He was a member of the Rowing Club and served as a member and house manager of Alpha Theta Fraternity. After college, he worked for a year at Corning Glass Works as a shift supervisor, manufacturing cathode-ray tubes for the television industry. He subsequently earned his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) law degree from Penn State University's Dickinson School of Law, where he served on the Board of Editors of the Dickinson Law Review.
Upon receiving his commission as a regular officer in the United States Navy, Peter served two years aboard the USS Fremont APA 44 in the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean, participating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He also served as an engineering officer aboard the USS Orleck DD886 in Japan, and in the Vietnam War, where his destroyer patrolled the South China Sea and the Formosa Strait. For his service, Peter was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the SERNAV Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Vietnam Service Medal.
Following law school, Atty. Stuart joined the general counsel's office of Connecticut General Life Insurance Corporation in Bloomfield, for three years, before joining the law firm that became O'Brien Shafner Stuart Kelly and Morris PC in Groton, where he practiced from 1973 to 2008. In August 2008, he opened a new law firm, O'Brien, Stuart, Eppinger & Collier, PC in Mystic, where he continued to practice for another fourteen years. He devoted his career to small business law, elder law, trusts, and estate planning, the steady, trusted counsel that families and entrepreneurs depended on.
Throughout his career, he had a particular passion for assisting entrepreneurs, lecturing at numerous seminars on home-based businesses and teaching the legal aspects of running a business at Mohegan Community College. In his later years of practice, he devoted himself to establishing plans for disabled individuals as a member of the Board of PLAN, Inc. (Planned Lifetime Assistance Network), helping families create trusts for children with disabilities. He was honored by the New London County Bar Association in 2020 as a 50-year member, and was named Professional of the Year by the World Wide Autism Registry in 2016–17. While serving as President of the New London County Bar Association, he founded and edited, “The Sand Bar,” the association's newsletter.
Atty. Stuart was deeply engaged in civic and community life throughout Southeastern Connecticut. He served as president of the Granby Connecticut JAYCEES, president of the Dartmouth Club of Southeastern Connecticut, president of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra (ECSO), president of the Mystic Arts Center, and president of the Mystic Rotary Club, where he was named a Paul Harris Fellow. His tenure as president of the ECSO was marked by the organization's transition from a community orchestra under Maestro Victor Norman to a professional regional orchestra under the baton of George Basiotopolos. As president of the Mystic Arts Center, he led the transformation of the Mystic Arts Association into the premier arts organization for the Mystic area. He also co-organized Mystic Depot Inc. to restore the historic downtown Mystic Amtrak train station.
A lifelong Republican, Peter served as president of the Dartmouth Young Republicans during his college years. He was elected a member of the Groton Representative Town Meeting and served as a councilor on the Groton Town Council.
Atty. Stuart was an active and devoted member of his church, serving in numerous roles including as moderator of the Mystic Congregational Church. He had a lifelong love of music, having led the a cappella group and sung in the chorus at Dartmouth, and he sang in the church choir for over 50 years.
Atty. Stuart had a deep interest in genealogy and served as president of the Manning Association, his family's organization which maintains the Manning Manse in Billerica, Mass., built in 1696. He was also president and part owner of Speedbowl, Inc., when he and others purchased the Waterford Speedbowl during the 1990s. He developed and managed real estate organizations including Sage Associates and Kingsbridge Square, two office buildings in Groton, as well as the mini shopping mall Avery Crossing in Mystic.
For over 50 years, Mason's Island Yacht Club was a cornerstone of the Stuart family's life, where they sailed, swam, played tennis, enjoyed Thursday night picnics and celebrated holidays together. Peter served the club with distinction as both vice commodore and commodore.
Peter was a committed advocate in the mental health field, serving as a member of the Southeast Mental Health Authority (SMHA) Community Advisory Board and the Connecticut Alliance for the Mentally Ill (CAMI). He was a tireless voice urging Connecticut to "Keep the Promise" to citizens suffering from mental illness and needing housing following the closure of Norwich Mental Hospital, and he championed equal treatment "parity" for mental illness alongside physical illness, working to eliminate the stigma of mental illness.
Peter and Karin were avid travelers who visited nearly every state in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and journeyed to all seven continents, with extended stays in Norway to visit Karin's relatives and many trips to South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In his later years, Peter became an avid golfer and was a member of the Stonington Country Club, spending many enjoyable hours with his friends on the course.
Peter was also a gifted storyteller and authored his own family history book, preserving the rich heritage of the Stuart and Manning families for generations to come.
Perhaps few things brought Peter more joy than his garden. Extensive and lovingly tended, it was selected for garden tours, and he took great pride and amusement when a tourist once remarked that the garden "certainly was not professionally done." “No,” he admitted it was “done” by him, rising at 5 a.m. to be in his garden. He believed, with quiet conviction, that one could be no closer to God than when on one's knees in one's garden.
Peter was also a car enthusiast who could frequently be spotted on the streets of Mystic behind the wheel of his beloved 1952 Chrysler Saratoga, affectionately named "Sara," often driving a wedding couple to the church on time.
Peter is survived by his loving wife of sixty-two years, Karin; his sons, Chris and Grant and their spouses, Megan and Meredith; and his cherished grandchildren: Libby, Anna, Traver, Eleanor and Anders. He is also survived by his sisters, Donna Lee Simpson and her husband Roy; his brother Alan Stuart and his wife Josette; and his sisters: Teri Van Vliete, Melanie Stuart Claeys and her husband Michael, Tawny Beckmann and her husband Lloyd, and Gretchen Stuart Musso; and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was predeceased by his parents, Chester McKee Stuart and Gertrude Elisabeth Manning Stuart Goodrich; and by his beloved son, Sandal Clay Stuart.
A Celebration of Life with full military honors will be held on Saturday, June 27, at 11:00am at the Mystic Congregational Church, 43 East Main Street, Mystic.
Attorney Peter F. Stuart lived a life of extraordinary breadth — dedicated to his family, his community, his faith, and his country. He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.