George Earl Peace

1945 - 2013

G. Earl Peace, Jr.
Auburn - G. Earl Peace, Jr, aged 68, of Auburn, Massachusetts, passed away Wednesday, July 24th with his wife and daughter at his side, after a brief but extraordinarily complicated illness. He was never one to do anything halfway.
He was born on February 4, 1945, in Norfolk, Virginia, to the late George Earl Peace, Sr, MD, and Margaret Peace (née Douthit). He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk, was granted numerous awards for his academic prowess and leadership abilities, and graduated in 1962 valedictorian of his class. He left the newly desegregated South to attend Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, obtaining a degree in chemistry in 1966 while engaging in legendary dormitory pranks.
Dr. Peace's professional career started even before being granted his PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1971, as he began teaching at Lafayette six months before his graduation. In 1979 he was appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania to the Citizens Advisory Council to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, writing an article entitled "Conserve Energy Before Crisis Hits." He was a forward thinker, curious, and dedicated to lifelong learning. After receiving tenure at Lafayette in 1979, Professor Peace accepted a position in the chemistry department at the College of the Holy Cross, beginning a close relationship with the college that persisted even after his retirement. Before returning to Holy Cross in 2001 as a class dean, he worked in various roles at the University of Wisconsin, Madison starting in 1992. After retiring in 2011, Professor Peace helped to teach an AP Chemistry class at South High in Worcester, Massachusetts, enjoying the challenge of teaching high school students after many years in college academia. He always took great pride in watching students learn, succeed, and find happiness: a sentiment echoed by many of those whose lives he impacted.
Music had been a part of Dr. Peace's life from an early age. Although he was required to join ROTC in college, he said: "given my name [I decided] that I would rather carry a clarinet than a rifle." He was very active in his church, First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist of Northborough, where he sang bass in the choir. He also enjoyed singing with the Greater Auburn Community Choir and volunteered as an usher at the Hanover Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts. Earl served as the treasurer for the Auburn Historical Society. His love for travel was strong, as was his passion for photography and old 1980s TV shows. He was an avid reader of mysteries and often opened conversations by asking, "Which books have you read lately?" National Public Radio shows such as Car Talk and Wait-Wait-Don't Tell Me were two of his favorites. Earl also enjoyed driving his 1967 Camaro convertible - a gift from his parents upon graduation from Lafayette College.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Renee (née Filas), and two children: Nicole, of Waltham, Massachusetts, and Trevor and his wife Cheer (née Santy), of San Francisco, California. He is also survived by his sister, Carolyn Smith (née Peace), her husband Thomas, of Lanham, Maryland, his niece Sabrina, and her two children Bryant and Sydnei. In addition to his extended family members in Maryland and Virginia, Earl touched the lives of innumerable students, faculty, administrators, acquaintances, and friends over his lifetime. If the length of life was measured in the good we do for others, Dr. Peace would have lived for thousands of years.
A memorial service to be announced will be held in the coming months at the First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist of Northborough. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made in his name to the Environmental Defense Fund at
http://www.edf.org/