Peter Vandervoort

VANDERVOORT - Peter, 75, of Bath and Small Point died Tuesday, October 11th at MidCoast Hospital in Brunswick after a brief illness. He was the beloved husband of Elena Drake Vandevoort. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Vincent Vandervoort and Jeanette Scott Vandervoort. He was graduated from The Choate School in Wallingford, CT, Williams College, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Delta Phi Fraternity and the University of Virginia School of Law. Vandervoort was inducted into the Order of the Coif at the University of Virginia. Following law school, he attended the Navy Supply Corps School and served in the U.S. Navy as an officer for four years and continued in the reserves until 1972 attaining the rank of Commander. In 1958 Vandervoort joined the law firm of Evans, Hand and Evans (later Evans, Hand, Allabough & Amoresano) in Paterson, New Jersey, where he practiced corporate and then estate planning and estate administration law until his retirement in 1995. At the time of his death, he was Of Counsel to the law firm Harwood Lloyd in Hackensack, New Jersey. He was a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. In 1971 he married Elena Drake of Bath and they made their home in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and spent summers at their home in Small Point where Peter's greatest joy was walking on Seawall Beach. When he was contemplating retirement, it was Peter who felt that the best possible place to live was in Bath, Maine. In 1995 they restored and returned to the house where Elena had grown up. Vandervoort was involved in many non-profit efforts over his career in New Jersey serving as President of the Greater Paterson YMCA for many years. He was President of the Board of Trustees of West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and served on the Board of Trustees of The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. He was truly a gentle giant of a man beloved by a host of friends and clients and with a wide range of hobbies and interests a voracious reader especially of American history, a lover of opera and classical music, a superb cook and an avid gardener. He also was an expert at needlepoint and the chairs and pillows he stitched grace the homes he and his wife created together. He was a member of Ridgewood Country Club, the Hillsboro Club in Hillsboro Beach, Florida and formerly a member of the Williams Club and the Union League Club in New York City. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Patricia V. Sivigny of Ridgewood, NJ, a brother Robert Scott Vandervoort of Closter, New Jersey and four nieces and a nephew. A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 1100 Washington Street, Bath, on Tuesday October 18 at 11 AM. Memorial Gifts may be sent to Mid Coast Hospital 123 Medical Center Drive, Brunswick, ME 04011 or Maine Maritime Museum, 243 Washington Street, Bath, ME 04530. Arrangements are by Mayo, Curtis & Hill Funeral Home, 819 High Street, Bath, ME.