Peter F. Lilienthal II

1939 - 2025

Peter Frederick Lilienthal, II peacefully passed away at the age of 86.5 on Saturday, October 25, 2025 at the Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington. He was surrounded by his wife, three daughters and his loving nurses and doctors.

Peter was born on April 22, 1939 in Montclair, New Jersey to Peter Frederick Lilienthal and Bertha Alice Anderson.

As a lifelong learner, Peter completed twenty-two years of formal education. He graduated from Brattleboro Union High School in 1957, Norwich University in 1961, Worcester Polytechnical Institute in 1963 and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1969, completing his education with not only a masters in Mechanical Engineering, but also a PhD. From July 1963 - July 1965 Peter was enlisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serving at both Walter Reed Hospital and the DMZ in Korea.

During his 30+ year career working for Bell Systems; Bell Laboratories, Western Electric, AT&T, and Lucent Technologies at the Engineering Research Center in Princeton, NJ, Peter was awarded over 20 patents and drove his hunter green Porsche 911 to work every day.

Peter and Tana met sharing rides from NJ to VT, which blossomed into love. From cozy rides as "Green Viking" and "Northern Comfort" on the CB radio in his Porsche he transitioned to putting his engineering skills to work packing a Volvo station wagon with 3 kids, a black lab, a cat and all the luggage masterfully positioned so you could still see out the back window. Together with their daughters over the years Peter and Tana managed to put hundreds of thousands of miles on their Volvos.

After his retirement from Bell Systems, he moved "back home" to southern Vermont where his family had settled in 1954. He and his wife relocated to Stowe, Vermont in 2020 and became residents at The Woodlands at Stowe.

Peter's greatest joy was spending time on his farm in Vermont with his family and dogs. Peter was an incredibly intelligent man, who loved the simple pleasures of life. He loved to have his hands in soil, watch his garden grow, cut the grass and hay with his John Deere tractor, bake breads, and watch the wildlife.

While his almost eleven-year battle with Parkinson's Disease stole his ability to communicate easily with others, he never lost his incredible intelligence, warm smile, and soft kind eyes. We always knew, despite how hard some days were, that he was still in there.

Peter was preceded in death by his mother, Bertha Alice Anderson Lilienthal, his brother, Paul Anderson Lilienthal, his father, Peter Frederick Lilienthal and cousin Axel Veldon.

He is also preceded by his beloved black labs - Hilda, Ebba, and Selda, and the one cat he truly loved, Eloise!

Peter is survived by his wife of 47 years, Tana Fairfield Lilienthal of Stowe, Vermont, his daughters Erika Lilienthal Gage and husband Ted of Brooklyn, NY, Anneliese Lilienthal and husband Anders of Stockholm, Sweden, and Britt Shattuck and husband Steve of Colchester, Vermont. He leaves behind his five deeply loved grandchildren who brought him so much joy, Magnus, Freya, Axel, Ada and Felix. They will deeply miss their Morfar.

A memorial service in celebration of his life will be conducted Saturday, November 1st at 2pm at Trinity Lutheran Church on Western Avenue. Peter was confirmed at Trinity, served on the church council for many years, baked communion bread, countless loaves of his Swedish coffee bread and cookies for their bake sales, and regularly attended church services - even if his wife and daughters were always making him late. Please come share stories, coffee and sweets to celebrate a life well lived.

Private burial will be held for the immediate family only. He will be interred in the family lot at the South Newfane Cemetery.

Alskar dig for alltid!

(Love you forever)

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Vermont Veterans' Home at 325 North Street, Bennington, VT 05201 and Norwich University, 158 Harman Drive, Northfield, VT 05663.

To share a memory or offer condolences to the family, please visit www.atamaniuk.com.