Peter A. Hendricks, of Marblehead, a retired prep school teacher and coach, died Tuesday, Feb. 28, at a convalescent facility in Salem. He was 77 years old and had been battling the effects of a stroke suffered more than a year ago while visiting family in Australia.
A native of New York City, Peter was the son of Tina Appleton Hendricks and Denis Hendricks. The family moved to Cos Cob, CT, in 1945 and lived there for many years. Peter loved the town and came to know its layout as a youngster delivering papers on his bike.
Peter attended St. Catherine’s in Greenwich, CT, and graduated from Canterbury School in Milford, CT. He attended Trinity College in Hartford and graduated from the Columbia University New School.
Peter taught history and was an athletic coach at Storm King School in Cornwall on Hudson, NY; Rockland County Country Day School, Congers, NY, and the Taft School in Watertown, CT. He enjoyed skiing and sailing especially.
He married Susan Decker in 1964 and had two sons, David Hunt Hendricks of Austin, Texas, and Samuel Appleton Hendricks of Sydney, Australia. His first marriage ended in divorce. In 1982 he married Lynn Edwards Watters. They settled in York, Maine, and Peter taught at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. Later, they moved to Boston and lived at Monument Square, Charlestown, for 22 years.
He taught English to foreign executives at various schools including Education First (EF) and the Language Studies International. Peter loved languages, music and literature. He achieved near-fluency in Italian and spent months with his wife, Lynn, in both Italy and Ireland over many years, absorbing the culture and cuisine and serving as an able tour guide to visiting friends and family.
Peter followed the Red Sox, Patriots and national politics avidly. He loved to argue the merits of this pitcher versus that one, the magic of Tom Brady or the ruin that a particular tax policy could wreak on the nation.
He is survived by his wife, Lynn; his two sons, Dave and Sam; two stepchildren, Jeff Watters and Jennifer Gibbs, and their spouses; two nieces, Stephanie Hendricks and Katherine Hendricks and nine grandchildren: Lily Hendricks, Anna Hendricks, William Hendricks, Jack Hendricks, Jeffrey Gibbs, Jared Gibbs, Emily Watters, John Watters and Betsy Watters. His only sibling, Erik Joyce Hendricks, predeceased him several years ago.
A celebration of Peter’s life is planned for the spring and will be announced. Friends are urged in lieu of sending flowers to contribute to charities that support research into diabetes. Arrangements by Eustis and Cornell of Marblehead.
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