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Peter Blasenheim
Peter Blasenheim
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Peter Blasenheim Obituary
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Leslie Blaugrund Kim
August 4, 2025
Oh gosh...I am just learning about Peter´s passing. Sending lots of love this family, friends, & community. He was such an important part of my academic journey. I last saw him in October 2024. He was so vital and as warm and curious as ever. What a special memory, & what a special man.
Beth Amy Buechler
June 11, 2025
Nobody completely loses Peter, not anyone who ever met him. If you did, he taught you something that will stay for life. I like to think of myself as his first student. When he was nine and I was four, he babysat for me. I told him I wanted a bubble bath, so he made bubbles for me in the tub and left me to it. When my Aunt Shirley got home and asked about our day, Peter casually mentioned the bubble bath.
"But we don´t have any bubble bath," she said.
"Yeah we do," he insisted. "We have Tide."
"TIDE! PE-ter! You don´t wash tender skin with Tide!"
I was happy, clean, and never remembered anything bad happening to my skin.
Unfortunately, it´s the same way I could never remember exactly which queen of England he tried to saturate my brain with that day. Queen Anne? Catherine of Aragon? You see, both of them had multiple miscarriages, and that´s the only part I do remember.
Since then, every time he saw me growing up, he´d remind me about Queen Anne and all her miscarriages. I´ve been obsessively listening to all the Philippa Gregory novels about the Tudors -seven so far, up to my eighth, and still working on Henry VIII-then fact-checking because that´s exactly what he´d want me to do. He loved historical fiction but preferred the facts. Now I can´t ask him which Queen Anne he always wanted me to feel sorriest for.
In recent days, I confusedly thought he meant Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII´s second wife, but wondered why he hadn´t mentioned the juicy part about Henry having her beheaded. Maybe because my first introduction to her, I was only four? It didn´t make sense, and I seem to remember something like 15-17 miscarriages. Today, I looked it up and found out about another Queen Anne, some 200 years later. 17 pregnancies, 12 miscarriages/stillbirths, 4 infants died young, and 1 son, Prince William, who only lived to age 11.
Oh, Peter. How I wish I could talk to you about all of this, and about the plethora of STARZ series we could compare with the books. How I´d love to tell you about the two histories I´ve bought to do my fact-checking, and hear you say how even those are wrong in places.
Losing my cousin Peter is more than a major loss. For all of you reading this-if you knew him, you loved him. And if you knew him, whatever he brought to your consciousness, I´d bet that you´ll never forget where you were while discussing it with him.
What helps me is to do what he´d want me to-learn more about history.
PS This photo was of Peter's desktop during a Zoom.
Arlene Barbosa
May 19, 2025
Rest in peace, my dear friend! I met Peter in 1969 here in Brazil and since there we turned friends! Im gonna miss you!
Arlene :)
Kim Searcy
April 26, 2025
My Condolences,
I was a graduate student with a fellowship at Colorado College in 1999 when I met Peter. He and I kept in touch since then. I am saddened by his passing. But, he is at peace now.
Respect,
Kim Searcy
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Justin Perkins
April 10, 2025
This photo was taken during graduation, and Peter cooked his infamous paella. However, my most memorable dinner with Peter was when he spontaneously said to come over, because he was making duck. We each got a full 1/2 duck split down the middle, and the whole house was filled with grease/smoke...All of those dinners will be forever engrained in my memory, and he will be missed. He taught me to be a more well-rounded individual in so many regards, and helped me through the difficulties of early adulthood. Abraços-Justin
Maria-Cecilia
April 10, 2025
Maria-Cecilia Kerkhof Castilho
April 10, 2025
Our condoleances to the family and friends of Peter Blasenheim. From Max Kerkhof and Maria-Cecilia Kerkhof Correia Castilho. Photo 1: one in 1966 for his paspoort
Photo 2: his parents, uncle and aunt came to Portugal and were invited for a lunch at the house of Maria Antonia.
Photo 3: visit to Portugal one Summer. Peter and Max
Photo 4: Peter and Maria-Cecilia Kerkhof Castilho.
We always will remember him with tenderness.
Kyra Gurney
April 8, 2025
Peter was an incredible professor, mentor, and friend. He will be deeply missed by all the students he took under his wing at Colorado College. I am forever grateful for his warmth, generosity, and encouragement.
Ana Castilho
April 6, 2025
All of my family was really sad to hear about our dear friend Peter passing...
Peter was one of my older sister's friends, from the Portuguese for foreigners course at the Faculty of Letters, in 1966, in Lisbon. He was 19 years old, and got a scholarship sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation.
He then rented a room in my aunt's house, and that's how he became part of the family, with many visits made since then.
When I travelled to the US for the first time, in 2011, my destination was Crestone, Colorado. When I realized that I would be landing in Colorado Springs, I contacted Peter, and of course he was that precious friend that picked me up at the airport and offered for me to stay at his beautiful house in that night. Next day, he drove me half way to Salida, in his convertible, where the friend that I was visiting met us to take me to Crestone .
Later, in 2019, when he heard about the Colloquium for the Centenary of my mother's birth, at the National Library in Lisbon, he came to be present at that tribute, and to talk about my mother and her writings.
I hope he had a peaceful passing, and wish to send Love... To him and all his loved ones
Photos :
1* Peter proud of his beautiful house, Colorado Springs in 2011.
2* Peter next to my brother, speaking at my mom's Colloquium in 2019
3* A detail in a table of his garden, 2011, as I believe that's a metaphor how Peter's kind soul always saw humankind connectedness...
May he rest in peace
Amy Blasenheim
April 5, 2025
Although my sweet cousin Peter was more consistently in my childhood when I lived with my cousins Beth, Lois, Laura and Joanne I did have the opportunity to visit with Peter in 2014 in Colorado Springs. He showed me around his beloved Victorian home, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and we schmoozed for some time before Lee and I drove back to Denver. May his memory be a blessing. Love, cousin Amy
Dick Storey
March 29, 2025
Peter was a dear friend and wonderful colleague. We stayed in touch after I retired from CC and spent considerable time on email and the phone together. I loved his five-page emails about CC, politics and life in general.
He was a dedicated, skilled teacher and loved his students. And they, in turn, loved him and learned so much from him. He impacted, in so many positive ways, the lives of students and colleagues.
CC has lost an MVP among the faculty and I shall miss him very much.
Joanne Ritvo
March 29, 2025
Iceland 2021
Joanne Ritvo
March 28, 2025
I believe fee people have positively impacted as many lives as Peter did. Our family met him
when Jared (pictured with him
in Iceland in 2021) was at Colorado College (class of 2006).
We met him in Brazil, travelled with him in Iceland, and were privileged to partake of his humor, brilliance, and cuisine many times.
To say he was a "quintessentially unique" (oxymoron?) human being does not do him justice.
Our entire family will think of him and miss him forever.
We love you Peter,
Jared, Jonathan, and Joanne Ritvo
Bennett and all who were fortunate to know him.
Joanne Ritvo
March 28, 2025
Folke Egerstrom
March 28, 2025
Peter was instrumental in making me who I am today. I would not be in law school, following my passions, enjoying Elis Regina, if it had not been for his inmese heart and kindness. "Dont pick a path until life forces you to" was his first piece of advice. It is still the best advice I have ever been given.
David Mason
March 27, 2025
I met Peter in my first year at Colorado College, when I took his African History class. He was a wonderful man, always interested, always a friend. Like all my best teachers, he changed my life.
David kubrin
March 26, 2025
So sorry to hear of Peters passing
We loved listening to all his adventures and story. Truly the life of the party
We will miss him. Love cousin Dave and grace
Brandis Hartsell
March 26, 2025
Farewell to a much-beloved cousin with love....
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