Peter Frederick Lanzer

Peter Frederick Lanzer

Died on 11 September 2021 in Boca Raton, Florida, some six months after losing Ruth, his beloved wife of sixty-six years. Peter leaves behind his four children: daughter Helen of Trevi, Italy, and her two children, Phoebe and Rupert, her partner, Stephen Solomon and his two children, Georgia and Ben; their daughter Susan of Marlborough, Connecticut, her husband, Marc Caplan and their two children, Jack and Sophie; their daughter Hilary of Boca Raton, who has been looking after Peter for the past five years; and their son Toby of London, England, and his three children, Emily, Sven and Ingrid; as well as countless friends all over the world.

Peter was born in London, England, on 6 October 1929, oldest child of Fred and Lil Lanzer. He and his younger sister, Beryl, grew up in Hornsey, north London, and his childhood was marked by World War II. At the age of ten he was evacuated to Ellington, Cambridgeshire, where he attended school and picked strawberries which in later life defined his dislike of the fruit. When he returned home to London at the age of twelve, he pursued school with vigour, excelling at maths. Upon reaching the age of eighteen, Peter had to serve two years in the British Armed Forces in Berlin where his duties included keeping watch at Spandau prison. Once he had completed his national service, he returned to London and qualified as a Certified Public Accountant.

He met Ruth when he was 25, proposed to her two weeks later, and they were married in 1955. Their marriage was filled with fun and laughter and their adventurous spirit took them far and wide. In 1963 they moved to Kleve, Germany, with three daughters under the age of four. Toby soon followed, born in Germany in 1965.

In 1966 Peter’s job took the family to the small village of Wehrheim, near Frankfurt. At the same time, Ruth and he established wonderful life-long friendships, and summers were spent racing back and forth to England to visit relatives. (He never broke the speed limit when he drove…because there wasn’t one.)

Peter’s career moved the family to the UK in 1971 to the village of Pyrford, Surrey, only to go back to Germany less than a year later. This time the family moved to a village called Busenbach, on the edge of the Black Forest, and life in Germany was embraced once again. In 1973 Peter’s job took the family back to Surrey, where they remained until 1979, when an opportunity for new adventures arose in Connecticut. Peter became Vice President Marketing for Gerber Garment Technology, a cutting-edge firm in computer aided design and manufacturing, where his colleagues greatly appreciated his work ethic, sense of fair play and commitment to mentoring.

During these years in Connecticut he also realized his dream of becoming a pilot and owning a vintage Mercedes.

Peter and Ruth remained in West Hartford, CT, until 1990, when Peter’s career moved them to Brussels, Belgium. They stayed in Belgium until Peter’s retirement in 1999, when they decided to return to Connecticut where he then had time to travel the world with Ruth, read every spy novel ever written and entertain his grandchildren in the pool. Some years later Peter and Ruth decided they needed to escape the cold New England winters and found a home in Boca Raton, Florida, where he enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather.

Peter enjoyed good health for most of his life though over the past decade a series of ailments became more serious and took their toll, increasingly making him less mobile. Peter’s mind stayed sharp as ever though and he kept up with current affairs. His belief in numbers and accountancy never wavered, and he reminded his family on occasion that an actuary had predicted he would live to be 92. As Peter approached that birthday, his health declined sharply. He was briefly in hospital but decided to go home to spend his last days there, surrounded by his children.

Peter accomplished a great deal in his life, but never took himself too seriously. Everyone will remember his irreverent sense of humour and quick wit. He was generous, classy and determined, and will be missed tremendously.

In keeping with Peter’s wishes to mark his passing in as private way as possible, no memorial will be held. Instead, wherever you are, please raise a glass and toast Peter. If you would like to commemorate him, he would have welcomed a donation to one of his favourite places:

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens http://morikami.org/product/support-morikami/

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