Peter Mellini

1935 - 2024

Peter Mellini
August 16, 1935 - March 11, 2024
Born in Hermosa Beach, Calif., August 1935. He grew up in West Los Angeles, attended John Burroughs Junior High and Canoga Park High, as a scholarship boy he graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1954. Peter entered Stanford 1954, dropped out to serve in the US Army in Germany, 1956-1958. He returned to Stanford in 1960, where he earned a BA in History and Psychology, 1962, a History MA, 1965 and a PH.D in History in 1971. He was a British history instructor at Stanford in Britain 1966, then taught Western Civ at Stanford, 1968-1970. Sonoma State University hired him to teach Modern European History and World History in 1970. Between 1985-1989 he had a joint appointment in the History of Journalism at San Francisco State. While teaching he wrote two books, numerous articles, was a stringer for The Economist and was active in Historic Preservation in California. In 1977, he married Gisela Doppelgatz of Cologne at their home in Larkspur. In the 1980s, Peter joined Marin Sunrise Rotary. They have had a marvelous life, living in the same Larkspur home, enjoying their friends, neighbors and traveling widely. In the 1980s, he joined Marin Sunrise Rotary and volunteered at the Marin Rotacare Clinic after his retirement 2001. Peter was a voracious reader, a Second World War buff, collected political cartoons. Peter relished cats, craft beer and espresso coffee. His body was donated to UCSF for medical research. Donations please to Rotacare Bay Area.