Robert D. Peck

Portland – Robert “Bob” D. Peck, 90, of Yarmouth, passed away on Friday August 10, 2012. He was the son of Harry Dexter Peck and Carolyn Ford Peck of Sharon, MA and Providence, RI, born in Framingham, MA on May 29, 1922. His early life was in Sharon, where he attended his first nine years in public schools, followed by three years and graduation in 1940 at Moses Brown School of Providence, RI. He then went to MIT, as his father had, where he joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity, served as Editor of his yearbook, and was a recipient of an ROTC Scabbard and Blade award.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Private in 1942 and was called to active duty in April 1943. He served in MA, MD, FL and Shemya Island in the Aleutians, reverting to Reserve status in 1946 as a Captain.

After WWII, he returned to MIT, receiving his BS degree in 1947. He was employed for a short time in an Executive Training Program at American Car and Foundry in MO and WV, and then worked for 12 years at Johns Manville Corporation in Boston as District Engineer, Insulation Dept. Manager and Area Sales Manager and then at the corporate headquarters in NYC as Distributor Sales Manager of the Industrial Insulation Division. He then became Chairman of Asbestos Construction Corp, the NYC area independent entity franchised for sales and installation of Johns Manville industrial insulation products.

In 1960, Asbestos Corporation was sold to Johns Manville, and Mr. Peck returned to the Boston area where he started Controlled Environment Corporation, the first company to offer turnkey construction of the new concept of cleanrooms for space, electronic, medical, and other industries. The company’s successor, Controlled Environment Equipment Corp, continues today in Maine, having been sold in 2002 by Mr. Peck’s son and successor, Matthew Peck. Mr. Peck was respected as a pioneer in the concepts of cleanroom technology and over many years held various positions in the technical societies – the American Association for Contamination Control, including Executive Vice President and a Life Member, the Institute of Environmental Sciences, of which he was a Fellow, a Life Member, and the recipient of the Munroe Seligman and the James R. Mildon awards. He was an early recipient of the Clean Rooms Hall of Fame, and was also a member of ASME, ASHRRE, VFW, the American Legion, and the Society of Mayflower Descendants. He was also very proud to be an Eagle Boy Scout.

Mr. Peck was also active in non-business activities, including in Needham, MA where he lived for over twenty years. He was a representative on the elective town meeting, Chairman of the Adult Education Committee, manager of three little league baseball teams, and a leader in the Boy Scouts, serving as a Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Pack Chairman, District Executive and a member of the Boston Council Board of Trustees, reflecting back on his becoming an Eagle Scout in his early teens. After moving to Maine in 1983, his activities included President of the Maine MIT Club, board member of the Preble Street Resource Center, treasurer of the Casco Bay Power Squadron, Chairman of his 50th class of Moses Brown School reunion, the Reseed Project of USM and board member of the Hitinowa Council of the Campfire Boys and Girls of Maine.

He often expressed his deep feeling that his greatest success, pleasure, and pride was his children, their spouses, and their children which resulted from a wonderful marriage to an unusual and marvelous wife Nancy – all of whom have gone on to lead successful lives each giving back to their communities, but more important, have followed the same American ideals and beliefs which he learned from his father – honesty, service, and participation.

Mr. Peck leaves his wife of almost 60 years, Nancy Hill Peck of Yarmouth, ME; his son Stephen Hill Peck and his wife Jacqueline Bates Peck of Needham and Wings Neck, MA; his son Matthew Ford Peck and his wife Kimberly Kress Peck of Windham and Sugarloaf, ME; his daughter, Susan Edwards Peck and husband Philip M. Coffin, III of Portland and Carrabassett Valley, ME; grandchildren: Rachel Coffin, Julia Coffin, Emma Coffin, Samuel Peck, Katherine Peck, and Elizabeth Peck; a sister, Lyn Kenyon of Chatham, MA and Naples, FL, and a brother, Randy Peck of Needham, MA.

A memorial service will be held on Friday September 14, 2012 at 2:00 PM at Lindquist Funeral Home, One Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth, ME 04096. Please visit www.lindquistfuneralhome.com to share your condolences, memories and tributes with Mr. Peck’s family. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Moses Brown School Fund (at http://www.mosesbrown.org/mosesbrownfund) or Preble Street Resource Center in Maine (http://www.preblestreet.org/donate.php) would be appreciated.