PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Peter H. Williams, 63, of Pittsfield, died on Aug. 14. He and Rosalie, his wife of 43 years, lived, worked and raised their family in the Pittsfield community for 28 years.

His zest for life and learning is reflected in his many interests, which include skiing, sailing, flying, woodworking, traveling, and motorcycling. His death resulted from a motorcycle accident.

Born in Hanson, Mass., he was raised by his parents, Edith and Lester Williams Sr. in Hebron.

He is survived by his four brothers, Lester, Lew, John and Lloyd. He attended Hebron Academy, where he was captain of the ski team and a football quarterback. Following his graduation from Hebron Academy, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University and an Ed.D from Indiana University in 1970.

Throughout his career, his travel experiences shaped his perspectives and enhanced his teaching. From 1960 -1962, he and wife, Rosalie, volunteered as Peace Corps teachers in Sierra Leone, West Africa. As a Fulbright specialist in South Africa in the winter of 1998, he researched approaches to training South African elementary teachers in mathematics and science.

During the fall semester of 1999, he and Rosalie spent four months teaching at Bejing Polytechnical University in Beijing, China. In 2002, they again traveled together throughout Great Britain. During the course of his life, he and Rosalie traveled extensively in the United States including a six-month trip across the United States in 2004.

He used his background in education to enhance the training and safety programs at Cianbro. He began his career at Cianbro in 1975 as training director and completed his career as vice president of Personnel and Safety in 1985. After developing training and safety programs for 10 years at Cianbro, he returned to the University of Maine at Farmington.

For the majority of his career, he pursued his love of teaching at the University of Maine at Farmington in the Departments of Education and Mathematics. While at the University, his teaching responsibilities included Statistics, Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, Problem Solving, and Geometry.

He is the author of a statistics text which was used at the University for eight years. He was chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science for a number of years, as well as the chair of the Department of Science and Mathematics. He was also chair of the Faculty Senate from 1988 to 1990. He retired from the Mathematics Department at the University of Maine at Farmington on June 30.

As a statistical analyst at the Maine Health Research Institute, he participated in a number of projects to improve healthcare in Maine. He worked with a team which developed a nationally accepted model detailing cost effective delivery of HIV treatment.

He served at MCI in Pittsfield as a member of the board of Trustees for six years. He was a chairperson on the Strategic Planning Team for math and science.

He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who enjoyed living life to its fullest. His life was enriched by a multitude of interests and activities – spending time camping with his wife and family, sailing at the family cottage, swimming on summer afternoons with his grandchildren, skiing with his sons, and celebrating holidays with the extended family. He enjoyed fresh Maine lobster and home-baked apple pie, watching Sunday afternoon football and solving complex puzzles.

He is survived by his wife, Rosalie, of 43 years; two sons, Dan and Jeff; and four brothers.

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