Dr. Peter Cuyler van Dyck

1939 - 2024

12/09/1939 - 11/30/2024
Our beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Dr. Peter Cuyler van Dyck, B.A., M.S., M.D., M.P.H., passed away on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at the age of 84 from complications of Parkinson's. The oldest of three children, Peter was born on December 9, 1939, in Peoria, Illinois to William Cuyler and Irma Marguerite van Dyck.
A graduate of Washington Community High School in Washington, IL, Peter went on to receive a B.A. in Physiology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He received both his M.S. Physiology and his M.D. from the University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago, IL and went on to earn his M.P.H., Maternal and Child Health, from the University of California, Berkeley, CA, 1972-1973.
He was a proud United States Army Veteran, serving in Frankfurt, Germany from 1969-1972 before being honorably discharged. He then went on to ultimately serve as a Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 1976-1993. He relocated to Maryland to join the federal workforce for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) beginning in 1992 and culminating as the Associate Administrator for Maternal and Child Health from 1998-2011.
Despite his dedication to his work, Peter was first and foremost a father to his three children, Greg van Dyck (Analia), Greta van Dyck Weiler (Patrick), and Jonathan van Dyck, and a devoted husband to his beloved wife, Kerry Nesseler.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother, David E. van Dyck. He is survived by his wife Kerry Nesseler; his three children Greg, Greta, and Jonathan; their mother Karen van Dyck; his sister Susan van Dyck, his sister-in-law Connie van Dyck; and Kerry's children, Kate Nesseler Schwoyer (Dave), Shea Nesseler (Caitlin), Kelly Nesseler Kerr (Jonathan), and Connor Nesseler (Camille); his grandchildren Cuyler and Marisa van Dyck, Grady and Peter Weiler (Lenora), and Beckett van Dyck. He was also a proud great-grandfather to Enzo, Oscar, Layne, and Caleb. Words cannot express how deeply we love him and will sorely miss him. He was a mountain of a man. He is our hero.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, January 17, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the Women in Military Service for America at Arlington National Cemetery in VA, followed by an interment at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, date to be announced.