K. Peter Kretschmer

1935 - 2019

K. Peter Kretschmer

May 19, 1935 - January 15, 2019

That's all he wanted officially written, but here's the unofficial family footnote:

* Born in 1935 in Breslau, Germany to Helmut Kretschmer and Lieselotte Dehnhardt/Dresden firebombing survivor/at age 10, with his tough and very-modern mom and always beloved brother, Hummel, fled the Russians to the not so warm embrace (at least initially) of the Bavarians/endured a rugged reunion with his long gone POW father/making ends meet in hard scrabble post-war Germany, he learned to grow vegetables, something that blossomed into a passion for gardening all his life/ an inveterate prankster in middle school, who got his fingers rapped often/when 16, cycled to and through Italy and became infected with a ineradicable travel bug/somewhere around then, discovered wine and women ... a major milestone/med school in Munich and Vienna with frequently retold internships in Cornwall, England and Patterson, NJ/encountered and spit out root beer on a 40-state excursion in an old Ford station wagon/1962 around-the-world trip on a $1200 Pan Am ticket/in the Alps met and then later married Antje Beckmann, his wife and companion for all the remaining 55 years of his life/emigrated to Seattle in 1964 and did his surgical residency under Dr. Baker at Virginia Mason/life took a turn as an unexpectedly-drafted young army doctor in the Vietnam War/he returned to Seattle, abhorring violence and fish sauce/always a lover of Kultur und Kunst, but especially Mozart/many years of practice as a general and thoracic surgeon, first at Cabrini and then at Group Health/introduced his son to the Beatles, Dylan and the Stones /in 1987, found Lopez Island and never really left/became a dabbler in water colors and golf ... not great in either, but loved both and a stickler when it came to the rules and order/a budding Spanish speaker who self-funded trips to South America to provide free medical care with Healing to Children/skied with European grace down Alpental and Crystal slopes until well past 70/his most treasured compliment came from an impartial observer who said he was the best grandfather ever/throughout his 83 years, Peter lived with zest, hard work, dignity, and showed compassion and respect for all others (except possibly bad waiters and obsequious sommeliers)/in short, he made the world a better place.

His wife, Antje, two children, Marc and Katarina, and five grandchildren, Nicola, Gabrielle, Jack, Charlie and Ella, are grateful and filled with memories and love.

Per his request, there will be no memorial service.