In Memoriam
Richard L. Peck
Richard L. Peck
1964 Yale graduation
Richard died on June 10, 2024 in Lakewood, OH. His wife Peggy wrote us as follows:
It saddens me to inform all of you that Richard passed away on Monday, June 10 at 10:34pm. After months of fighting pancreatitis and surviving an extensive, high-risk surgery, his body simply reached its limit. I was at his bedside along with two of our children — Melissa and Tim — and his daughter Amanda joined us virtually. March 29 was our 55th wedding anniversary, so it is an understatement to say I am bereft, as are our children and all who knew him.
In remembrance of Richard, here is his obituary, followed by three essays that he wrote for our Reunion Books over the years.
Obituary
Richard L. Peck
recently
Richard L. Peck age 82, beloved husband of Peggy (née Pennell); father of Melissa O'Donnell-Cleckner (Matt), Timothy, and Amanda Peck (Jonathan Desley) of NY; grandfather of Aidan, Dominic, and Abigail Peck, and Fiona and Will Desley; brother of Eleanor Peck; father-in-law to Cynthia Peck; uncle to many.
Born in Buffalo, NY, Richard established a passion for story early in life — both reading and writing it. After attending Yale on full academic scholarship, Richard enlisted in the army in 1964 where he served for three years in the Signal Corps as a motion-picture photographer.
Following his discharge, Richard met Peggy, his wife of 55 years, while they both worked as beat reporters for the The Record, a daily paper serving NJ and Rockland County, NY. Shifting from general news to health and medicine, Richard served as Washington Bureau Chief for Medical Economics magazine, followed by a brief stint in public relations for Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where he served as point of contact for the hospital the night Sugar Ray Leonard was admitted for an eye injury that derailed a title bout.
Eventually settling in Lakewood, Ohio, Richard focused the final decades of his career on long-term-care trade magazines, editing Geriatrics, the journal of the American Geriatric Association, for eight years and establishing design coverage for the national Nursing Homes (now Long-Term Living), which he also edited. Richard also founded and edited Healthcare Design Magazine, winning numerous awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) and BNP Media (Jesse H. Neal Awards).
At age 51, Richard took up running — a health kick turned habit that allowed him to “see the world, on foot and at ground level, at deliberate enough speed to take it all in.” At 53, he and Peggy began their sailing career, eventually purchasing a 32-foot sailboat that provided them and their children and grandchildren regular adventures — beautiful, soothing, thrilling, and, at times, truly death-defying. A lover of old movies, architecture, baseball, football, F1 racing, and ice cream, Richard was immensely thoughtful, caring, intelligent, and delightfully funny.
When not writing, running, or sailing, Richard could most frequently be found reading … and reading some more. In a personal memoir written for his family, he notes, “I’m hooked on books, and after I’m gone, I hope others will take (probably a great deal of) time to sell them off and not throw them away.” Check your nearest Half-Price Books soon and potentially you’ll spot a beloved Richard Peck hand-me-down. May you derive as much pleasure from it — and from life — as he most certainly did.
A memorial servicer will be hald on July 3, 2024 AT 5:00pm at the Zeis-McGreevey Funeral Home, 16105 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: Wounded Warrior Project and The Lakewood (Ohio) Public Library Foundation. Friends will be received at the funeral home starting at 3:00pm, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Following the service, friends and family are invited to gather at the family’s home, 1503 Arthur Avenue, in Lakewood.
Essay, 60th Reunion Book
by Richard L. Peck
May 2024
At this stage of life I find that family roots become more important than ever. For example, recent genetic testing revealed that I am mostly eastern European in origin, and I can see it in the cast of my features.
I remember a Polish serving woman at Trumbull College thinking that I was a countryman. This was possibly from my grandmother's German side. But I thought that I was as WASP as they come. Fortunately, a 19th century Peck took it upon himself to compile a Peck family genealogy revealing that, in America, we date back to 1638, with progenitor Joseph Peck arriving in Connecticut with his minister brother to escape religious persecution in England. He was a steadfast Puritan and successful businessman.
I have been able to trace the family lineage from Joseph Peck through my great-great-grandfather Phillip Peck, who for some reason hauled the family from urban Connecticut to a small rural farm in upstate New York in 1821. Two things struck me: Phillip's family history, which had him losing an infant daughter at age 3 and two daughters both at age 17. He died shortly after the second daughter in the late 1850s. Two sons died in the Civil War (fortunately Mrs. Peck had died by this time too), and two other sons survived to ages 89 and 93, respectively. The latter was my namesake, Richard, born in 1836 and essentially running the farm from the outset of the Civil War to just before the Great Depression.
I find this longevity intriguing, but it must have been a tough life, since his two grandsons Clifford and Leon (my dad) ran away from the farm as soon as they could, in their late teens, for city life in Hamden, Connecticut and Buffalo, New York. My dad, who hated the farm, sold it in the 1940s. There are many hidden, dramatic stories here that I am trying to ferret out as best I can. Because it's important.
Essay, 50th Reunion Book
by Richard L. Peck
May 2014
Having attended several reunions I can confidently say that they become progressively more interesting and involving as years go by. Everyone has a story, actually several stories, by this stage of the game. I’ve enjoyed experiencing the people that most of my classmates have become and have even struck up new friendships. I greatly admire people like Bob Musil and Dan Berman for their lifelong commitment to social causes. By the same token I mourn the loss of, in particular, Bob Kuehn, George Wallace, and George Odell, the last of whom I was delighted to revisit at the 45th.
I’m semi-retired from a career in journalism in which I covered cutting-edge developments in healthcare architecture and in long-term care for the elderly. I’m still exploring developments in the latter field which, while currently still under the radar, will come to define much of our future as seniors and family members. I pursue the former, architectural developments, as a sort of hobby. Forty-five years ago I was fortunate to meet a young woman named Peggy Pennell who, as Mrs. Peck, continues to give life to my life. We’re both looking forward to meeting many of you at the reunion.
Essay, 25th Reunion Book
by Richard L. Peck
May 1989
I think ours has been a generation of extremes. Within our relatively brief lifetimes we have seen tremendous economic, cultural, and political upheavals: the birth of rock ‘n’ roll; the beginnings of “the American Century”; the hopes of the Kennedy years (you had to be there); the horrors of the assassinations; the tragedy of Vietnam; the “Youth Movement”; the “Oil Shock” that, in its effects, transformed our economic and family lives; the squalor of Watergate; the turning inwardness of the Carter years and the blatant self-centeredness of the Reagan years — a period during which, in my opinion, some Americans seemed to lose sight of their country’s best qualities. The class of ’64 has, in short, experienced the best and the worst of recent American history, and this may have given us a unique perspective on where we, as Americans, have been and where we could be. For one thing, our traditional generosity of spirit is waiting to be reclaimed.
I count myself among the more fortunate of my classmates in that, while I was touched by all these events, I was not swept up by any of them. I did my years in the Army, but I didn’t go to Vietnam (though I helped bury a few who did). I’ve seen myself go from my family’s sole breadwinner to a co-partnership in a two-income family, through sheer economic necessity; this has created various difficulties in family logistics, yet we are making it work, and my wife is finding professional fulfillment. I watched the “dream of home ownership” recede into unreality for many years until, by a convergence of circumstances, we were finally able to purchase a house. I have lived the nomadic life of many a journalist, uprooting my family several times; in my work I have traveled throughout the United States and beyond, from Vancouver to Las Hadas, from Hiroshima to Amsterdam; yet I have always had a sense of home life. I’ve taken up a line of work unlikely to yield much in the way of fame or fortune, and I’ve had my share of professional successes and failures; yet I have always had a sense of contributing something and have risen steadily, with only occasional interruption, in levels of responsibility and income. I have watched both my marriage and my children grow.
Which of my “blessings” do I attribute to Yale? A sense of survival; an understanding of patience; a constant and intense curiosity, tempered by some degree of critical judgment. Oh yes, and something to impress people with when all else fails.