Obituary of Peter Berkley Taylor

Peter Berkley Taylor passed away December 10, 2018 at home in Olympia, Washington.  He was born December 1, 1933 to Berkley Tripp Taylor and Elsie Hallock Taylor in Yonkers, New York. A 47-year resident of Olympia, he also lived in Seattle from 1964 to 1971.

Pete graduated from New York’s Katonah High School in 1951, and received a B.S. from Cornell University in 1955.  He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, and married Virginia “Ginny” Niles on December 27, 1958 at First Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, Illinois. He then returned to school and earned a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD in 1964, and did post-doctoral work in MBL, Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1964.

Professionally, Pete was a professor in the Oceanography Department at the University of Washington from 1964 to 1971, and at The Evergreen State College from 1971-1996.

Pete loved being out in nature.  He was a keen observer and a strong advocate for environmental stewardship.  He enjoyed travel and music.  He was an active member of Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation and was a founding member of THEM, a popular Olympia-based men’s hiking group.

He is survived by his wife, Virginia “Ginny” Taylor; sons, Paul Taylor and Ian Taylor; daughter, Linda Taylor (Karl Christoffers); and grandchildren, Megan Taylor and Max Taylor.  He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Henry Taylor; and sister, Elizabeth Boyd.

Services will be held Saturday, January 12, 2019, 2:00 p.m. at Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 2315 Division St. NW, Olympia, WA 98502.  Memorial donations may be made to Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation at www.ouuc.org or Washington Environmental Council at https://wecprotets.org.