Peter McDonell Goddard

Peter McDonell Goddard was born on February 8, 1951 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and raised in Belvedere, CA, where he attended nearby Reed School. In high school at the Catalina Island School for boys, Peter enjoyed SCUBA diving in the kelp forests, and backpacking. After graduating from Drew School in San Francisco, Peter attended the California College of Arts and Crafts, where he earned a BFA, with Honors in Photography. Drawn to wilderness, and employing his skills as a photographer, in the late 1970's Peter joined the late John Olmstead in reconnoitering a proposed trail across California. In the style of Peter's revered influences John Muir, Gary Snyder, and Ansel Adams, the two set out on foot from the Mendocino coast late one March, and 30+ rolls of film later, reached Nevada in early June. To the great joy of family and friends, Peter's sensitive eye also captured on film numerous weddings and other family events over the years. Peter was a skilled gardener - always generous with gifts of his homegrown fruit and organic produce - and worked for many years as a grounds-keeper for Sonoma County Parks. Peter loved animals, books and travel, and his deep abiding interest in Buddhism ultimately led him to the Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Center in Graton, where he was privileged to reside for the past two years, and where he passed peacefully on March 22, 2012. Peter was given Buddhist last rites at the Center on March 28. Predeceased by his father, George Goddard of Mill Valley, Peter's kind and gentle spirit is carried on in the hearts and minds of his mother Janet McDonell Goddard, uncle and aunt Neil and Edna McDonell, stepmother Sheret Goddard Osborn and Cross family step siblings; siblings Christopher (and Karen), Constance, Jeffrey (and Lise), Toby (and Kimberly), Calvin (and Georgia), and nephews Brook, Scott, Will and Ziggy Goddard. His family will hold a private memorial later this spring.