Alan Peters

Alan Peters, age 80, of Bainbridge Island died Oct. 28.

He was born Ernst Pfeffer in Vienna, Austria, to parents Abrahm and Margarete Pfeffer. His father was a cabinetmaker and his mother a homemaker.

He lived in Vienna until age 15, when he escaped by securing a seat on the Kindertransport, a program sponsored by the British government that saved 10,000 German and Austrian children from the advance of the Nazi regime.

After arriving in England, he was fortunate to have a guardian, Suzy Fry, who took him into her home. He completed his education at the University of Manchester.

He became a British citizen and army officer by the age of 21; he changed his name at the request of the British Army, upon his wartime service in Germany.

After the war, he emigrated to Canada and lived in Montreal for the Northern Electric Company. There he met Diana Culbard, and they married on Oct. 27, 1951.

They moved to the United States in 1953 and became citizens in 1958. They lived in Berkeley, Calif., and then Palo Alto, raising two children. He worked as a systems engineer for United Airlines, retiring in 1981. He then worked for Bank of America until retiring at age 65.

To celebrate his retirement, Alan traveled to Nepal and climbed to the base camp of the Annapurna Range. He was an avid backpacker, hiker and environmentalist, and he and his wife hiked all over the world.

He was a dedicated Unitarian Universalist and served on the boards of the San Francisco church, the Marin Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the Starr King Seminary in Berkeley, and the Bainbridge Island Fellowship.

He engaged life with curiosity and valued knowledge about the peoples and history of the world.

He is survived by his wife, Diana Peters of Bainbridge Island; son Mark (Olivia) Peters and grandchildren Oren, Damian, Ruben and Nira of the Canary Islands, Spain; and daughter Julia (Steve) Maslach and grandchildren Dillon and Jamie of Bainbridge Island.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Nov. 6 at Grace Episcopal Church.

Remembrances can be made to the building fund of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap, P.O. Box 10175, or Hospice of Kitsap County, PO Box 3416, Silverdale, WA 98383.