PETER PRITCHARD

PRITCHARD--Peter. Peter David Pritchard passed away peacefully on September 26, 2020 in New York City surrounded by his wife and children. Peter had two great loves in the world: his family and his business. His wife of 40 years, Zohreh Pritchard, was the love of his life; a partner in marriage and in business. He was an exceptionally proud father to his two children, Saara Pritchard and Peter Pritchard, and grandfather to two grandchildren, Eden Melton and James Melton, who were his greatest joy in the last years of his life. He was happiest when he travelled the world to play the Royal golf courses with his son and eat in the finest Michelin restaurants with his daughter. Well-known for his quintessentially English persona and wry sense of humor, Peter was born in London. He boarded at Charterhouse in Surrey and later read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, University of Oxford. Following Oxford Peter held a brief stint in accounting at Coopers & Lybrand before he was redirected to the United States to work for the Pritchard Services Group, a global facility services business led at the time by his father, founded by his grandfather after World War I. Following a hostile take-over of the then publicly-listed family company, Peter set out on his own in 1986 to establish in New York what became Pritchard Industries, one of the largest regional providers of building services in the United States. Peter was revered for his stoic leadership and his uncompromising pursuit for perfection in directing Pritchard Industries. He established an extraordinary corporate culture and he recruited a devoted team of managers who remained loyal to him and the company for over 30 years. Peter was also an established art collector - from Old Masters and European decorative arts to Renaissance bronze and later Contemporary art - Peter had a lifelong penchant for collecting, and a brilliant eye in assembling his indeed museum-worthy collection. He was passionate in his philanthropic endeavors including Georgetown University, where he sat on the Board of Advisors of the McDonough School of Business, the Friends of Bargello, and served as a longtime patron of St. Christopher's Inn. As an avid supporter of cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Peter's honor. http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/PeterDPritchard. A celebration of his life will be planned for a future date when Covid allows us to gather.