PETER GOLTRA

GOLTRA--Peter Seipp KStJ. Goltra - Peter Seipp KStJ, of Middleburg, VA, died peacefully at home on June 10, 2024. Born in Chicago on March 11, 1940, he was the elder son of William Brown Goltra and Pauline Seipp Goltra. His grandfather, Edward Field Goltra, was one of the founders of American Steel Foundries, and his great-grandfather Edward G. Uihlein was one of the four original owners of Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Mr. Goltra attended Deerfield Academy ('57) and then Princeton University, where he was a member of Cloister Inn, before serving in the US Naval Air Corps as a radioman. He received his degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society. After conducting research in magnetic techniques for Automatic Electric Laboratories, the research arm of GT&E, he founded Medicomp Systems, Inc., where he served as Chairman of the Board and President. Medicomp develops software used by hospitals and clinicians to facilitate medical documentation and improve care delivery. Mr. Goltra held numerous patents related to the use of artificial intelligence techniques in these areas. Mr. Goltra was a Knight of Justice in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, served as Treasurer of the Priory in the USA and was a supporter of the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem. He was granted his coat of arms by the College of Arms in London. He was active in other charitable organizations, including service as Senior Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and was a member of the Union Club, The Pilgrims, New York Yacht Club, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Thursday Evening Club, Huguenot Society, Society of Colonial Wars in the States of New York and Florida and Saint Nicholas Society. He spent summers at his home in Edgartown, where he was a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and Edgartown Reading Room, and in Newport. Mr. Goltra loved to sail, having grown up crewing for his mother on her sloop Avenir in many races including the Chicago Yacht Club's annual race from Chicago to Mackinac Island, MI. In the 1990s he captained his sloop Presto to many victories at regattas along the east coast. He enjoyed travel, visiting all seven continents and more than 40 countries. He was an avid photographer and music lover, one of his favorite events being the New Year's Day concert in Vienna, but he was happiest at Ferdinand Farm, his home in Middleburg, where he maintained his prized herd of red angus cattle. He was a gentleman, kind, generous and thoughtful and had a great love for his family. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Powers Goltra, his sons by his first marriage, Edward Seipp Goltra and Alexis Obolensky Goltra, four grandchildren, Phoebe Livingston Goltra, William Pepper Goltra, Charlotte Louise Goltra and Josephine Zoe Goltra, and his brother, Oliver Renard Goltra. He was predeceased by his second wife, Gail Wright Goltra. Services will be held at St. Columba's Chapel in Middletown, RI on July 23. Burial will take place in the family plot in Edgartown. Memorial contributions may be made to The Order of St. John of Jerusalem for the benefit of the St. John Eye Hospital, 1850 M St., NW, Suite 1070, Washington, DC 20036.