Peter W. Smallidge ’56

Peter Wayne Smallidge died November 13, 2018 at his home in Somesville, Maine. He was born on January 27, 1934 in Bar Harbor, Maine, the son of Ernestine Ober Smallidge and Clifford Smallidge.

While growing up in Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor, he attended and graduated from Mount Desert High School. After high school he went to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. While at MMA he made many lifelong friends. He enjoyed getting together with his classmates over the years and recounting their antics.

On the day after he graduated from Maine Maritime Academy, he married his high school sweetheart, Sheila. They celebrated their 62nd anniversary in June. Peter went shipping for a short time after graduation and then accepted a position at Warren Pumps in Warren, Massachusetts, where he worked for 15 years. He was drawn back to Maine, and moved back with his family in 1972. At first he was employed at Brewer Electric and shortly thereafter purchased what was C.E. Wallace Plumbing & Heating in Northeast Harbor. He changed the name to MDI Service Corp. and successfully operated and grew the business for many years. He sold the business and enjoyed a brief retirement before going back to work in a partnership with Robert Young at Northeast Plumbing and Heating. Peter served on the Board of Directors at the Bar Harbor Savings and Loan Association and on the Northeast Harbor Harbor Committee for many years.He was very involved in his grandchildren’s lives and attended nearly all of their sporting events and activities. He thoroughly enjoyed hearing of their travels and experiences over the years. Perhaps his greatest joy especially in later years was his time spent at Dry Kye, his rustic camp on Third Debsconeag Lake in northern Maine. While Peter loved the solitude found at the lake he also enjoyed sharing this special spot with many friends and especially with his grandchildren. Many of us have a “Third” story or experience. He also purchased a camp on Ambagejus Lake in Millinocket, and loved his time there, especially when his grandchildren, Brett and Calli, were at their camp at Ambagejus.

Peter is survived by his wife, Sheila Graves Smallidge; his daughter, Jennifer Smallidge; Mitchell and her husband, Robert, of Mount Desert, their children, Robert Lewis Mitchell, Jr. “Brett” and Caroline Ober Mitchell “Calli”; his daughter, Melissa Harris and her husband, Shepard, of San Francisco, CA, their children, Brooke Smallidge Harris, Peter Baylor Harris, and James Owen Parker Harris, his wife, Jen, and son, Oak. He is also survived by his sister, Barbara Wheaton; a brother, Ernest and his wife, Barbara; as well as his sisters-in-law, Marion Peckham and her husband, George (with whom Peter enjoyed many a remote fishing trip), Mary Gilley and her husband, Wayne, Jean Fernald and her husband, Robert, Dorothy Graves, and Elizabeth Schurman; as well as many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents; two brothers, Steven Smallidge and Jon Bagley; sister, Norma; and his six brothers-in-law.

A memorial service will be held in the spring.  Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mt. Desert, ME. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com.