William King "Bill" Peck

1931 - 2020

PECK, William King "Bill", 89, of Amherst, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 3, 2020, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. Bill was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on June 26, 1931. When Bill was a boy, his family moved to Lexington, Mass., where he finished high school in 1949. He graduated from Amherst College (1953), where he majored in history and was active with the tennis team and the Chi Phi fraternity. Bill served two years in Korea (1953 to 1955) with the U.S. Army Signal Corps. In 1957, he completed a Master of Business Science at Boston University. Bill went on to a long career in public relations and community affairs with U.S. Steel, and after his retirement in the mid 1980s continued to contribute his skills as Director of Public Relations at Calumet College in Whiting, Ind. Bill was also active in Rotary International and volunteered regularly to lead fundraising efforts for the United Way and the Red Cross. Bill met Regina Ann "Jean" Hauser of Cincinnati, Ohio, shipboard on a transatlantic crossing while they both were college students headed on a tour of Europe. The two married in January 1958 and embraced a lifetime of travel together, visiting dozens of places around the globe; they also enjoyed regular trips to Maine, where Bill's family has deep roots. Bill's career took the family to a number of communities, including Pittsburgh and Yardley, Pa. and Gary and Valparaiso, Ind. In retirement, Bill and Jean moved to the warmth of Ashland, Va., an area they were drawn to in part for its many historic sites. After Jean's passing in 2015, Bill returned to Amherst. In his later years, Bill enjoyed drives up Mt. Holyoke, reading poetry aloud with his family and singing well-remembered songs from days past. Bill is survived by his sister, Elizabeth "Betsy" Mixner (Hendersonville, N.C.); daughter, Sarah Peck and her children, Adela Novak and Nikki Novak (Ashland, Va.); son, Stephen Peck and his wife, Marla Miller (Hadley, Mass.); and daughter, Susan Horgan, her husband, P.J. Horgan and their children, Alexandra Horgan, Elizabeth Horgan and Joshua Horgan (Annapolis, Md.). Gifts in Bill's memory may be made to Rotary International (https://www.rotary.org/en/donate) or the American Red Cross (https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/). Bill's family would also like to thank The Arbors Assisted Living in Amherst for their warmth and exceptional care.