SEPT. 25,1930 – FEB. 12, 2011
Peter died peacefully in his sleep, next to his wife Elin. Although it was a shock to all of us, in light of his great capacity for assuring us that he didn’t have the ‘bad kind of diabetes’ and hadn’t suffered a stroke, only ‘some tiny bleeds on the brain’ and that we came from a long line of healthy stock who outlived all their peers, it was a gentle way to die.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Elin, his three daughters, Becky Deans (Kenny), Nikki Shaw and Erika Paterson; his five grandchildren, Jacob Paterson, Jennifer McFarlane (Andrew), Kaitlin Jackson (Pat), Dylan Shaw (Kristy), and Geordy Deans; as well as his six great grandchildren, Clayton, Monika and Kyler, Hannah, Devon and Lola.
Peter pursued many varied occupations in his life, but his passion was journalism, from his tenure as editor of the McGill Daily in his youth to his ten years at the North Island Gazette, 1974 – 1984. North Islanders will remember the ‘good old days’ of Roland Shanks, Ross Mavis and Peter. Their ‘Carrot Campaign’ the Gazette Christmas Hamper Fund and especially Peter’s provocative column ‘Out of Left Field’. Peter also worked in television in Toronto as production manager of Canada’s famed public affairs show ‘This Hour has Seven Days’. He was an intelligent man with a great many opinions, which made him both loved and hated. But as long as he provoked a reaction and dialogue, he’d done his job!
He loved, and took great pride in his family – and his six cats, who gave him constant reason to smile. We’ll never forget him and he will be missed.
A service will follow in the next coming weeks.