Peter Neal Kidman

Peter Neal Kidman, 83, died Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at Monroe Hospice House. Prior to his short stay at Hospice, he resided briefly at the Fellowship Manor Personal Care Home in Whitehall, PA. He was a long-time resident of Stroudsburg, PA. Peter was the son of the late Walter Neal and Helen (Colbjornsen) Kidman. Born on July 30, 1941, in Pittsburgh, PA, Peter grew up in Uniontown, PA, where his father worked for the railroad. A benefit of his father's railroad employment was family railroad travel passes across the country. So began Peter's love of railroads and travel. He recalled many happy memories of railroad trips with his parents to the Southwest, California, and Minnesota, where he had aunts, uncles, and cousins. When it came time for Peter to select a college to attend, his main criterion was that it be located someplace warm, so he chose Arizona State University, where he graduated with his Bachelor's degree in 1963. He earned his Master's (1965) and Doctorate (1971) degrees from West Virginia University. Between his MA and Ph.D., he began an internship that led to a full-time staff position in the West Virginia's Governors Office. He recalled travelling with the Governor's motorcade escorted non-stop through stop signs and traffic lights with the assistance of State Troopers. Peter's experiences in the Governor's office led to his Ph.D. thesis research project on the operations of state governance. When the Governor lost his reelection, Peter was forced to vacate his staff position and find an alternative career. He entered academia. Early in his academic career, Peter taught briefly at Penn State, Arkansas State, and Murray State University before coming to the Political Science Department at East Stroudsburg University in 1977. He served as Dean of Arts and Sciences from 1983-1988, a role he found deeply rewarding. After leaving the Dean's position in 1988, Peter joined the Economics Department faculty, teaching courses in Business Law, Personnel Management, and Advertising until his retirement in 2002. Peter spent many post-retirement years in his beloved warm southern California, where he fled the cold Pennsylvania winters every November to May. He maintained an apartment in Palm Springs, where over the years he hosted and entertained friends and relatives visiting from the East Coast. Peter developed many deep and diverse friendships over his lifetime, sharing his warmth and varied interests of travel, cars, architecture, current events, and politics. In addition to his friends and colleagues, Peter's survivors include cousins in Florida and Minnesota. Services will be held on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at the William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main Street, Stroudsburg, Pa, with viewing beginning at 3:30 PM followed by a service and time of sharing at 4 PM. Peter will be buried alongside his parents in McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio, location of his father's birthplace and a historic family farm. In lieu of flowers, memorial remembrances may be made to Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org).