Peter Lee died on November 22, 2021, surrounded by his beloved family. “Peter and I roomed together for three years,” says Sam Bingham. Throughout, we loyally dated Wellesley women we’d known since grade school but later did not marry. Peter was the truest of us all, always present with humor, understanding and a broad perspective, though we would live worlds apart. We met again only at reunions, but several times a year, in gloomy weather, my wife and I would say, ‘Let’s go to Honolulu and see Hawaii through Peter’s eyes. And yet we never went.
“Then, last week, PETER LEE appeared on my iPhone, and when I called back, he answered in a whisper, choked with mortality, ‘Sam, I’m dying! I called to say goodbye.’ He hadn’t the strength to go on, but a fresher voice behind him said, ‘I’m Jeanette, Peter’s daughter. My father’s kidneys have failed, and he has refused dialysis.’ He had not warned me. I can’t remember how I answered. Ave atque vale, Peter.”
Charlie Carter says: “Peter was a stalwart of the original listserv, contributing regularly and perceptively to conversations on a broad variety of topics. He invited me to dinner at his house on a visit to Honolulu for an annual meeting in 2006 of the American Crystallographic Association. After dinner, he showed me how to pick fresh lychees from a huge tree in his front yard, using a long, forked stick. We took them in for dessert, and they were delicious. He was an opera lover, and I had just recently become one. Peter’s office was stacked nearly solid with pirated DVDs of performances, and he sent me off with about a dozen of my favorites. I have missed his contributions to the DG, and will miss him as well.”
Narelle Kirkland adds, “Ever buoyant and considerate, he was a pleasure to be around. I am glad that he has children who can carry forward the traits of his marvelous personality.”