Sailor, birder, publisher, Habs fan. Born on Dec. 1, 1947, in Montreal; died on July 1, 2014, in Toronto, of an abdominal aneurysm, aged 66.
Peter loved the water. Sailed his CS-27 out of Toronto's Ashbridges Bay. Motored his trawler up the North Channel of Lake Huron. Paddled kayaks around Witless Bay in Newfoundland, Desolation Sound in British Columbia, in Belize and in Vietnam. Swam for Canada in the 1989 World Transplant Games in Singapore.
He learned to sail in the Sea Cadets program at the boarding school he attended in Quebec's Eastern Townships. Apparently it was the only good thing about that school.
Peter was born in Montreal to Muriel Abercromby and James Maurice Hoult, who had welcomed a daughter, Barbara, in 1943. Tragedy hit in 1955, when the family's car was T-boned at an intersection (they had the green light). Muriel was thrown from the car and died soon after. Maurice kept his young family together with the help of relatives, and then his second wife, Claire, whom he married in 1957.
Peter went on to study business at Bishop's University in Lennoxville (now part of Sherbrooke), Que., and then moved to Toronto where he became a chartered accountant with Clarkson, Gordon. Later, as director of publishing for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, he loved working with authors and staff to publish books.
In 1973, he married Nancy Hoffman, and eventually became Uncle Pete to Christopher and Jennifer, the children of Barbara and her husband Michael Stebbing. Peter and Nancy divorced in 1990, and he married his second wife, Lynda, in 1999.
Peter spoke his mind, especially about politics and sports, but he was not a hard man. He loved and supported his family, and was loyal to his friends, keeping in touch with them over the miles and years.
Although he had left Montreal, Peter was a lifelong, diehard fan of the Montreal Canadiens (the Habs) and the Alouettes. He also loved music and could identify a popular song from the first few bars. And he enjoyed puzzles – he did The New York Times Sunday crossword in ink.
Peter's health dogged him throughout his adult life. Kidney failure in his 20s, years on dialysis, then a transplant. Heart bypass. A knee blow-out (side effect of transplant medications). He became inured to surgery and medical intervention. As his cousin David said, "For someone who could explode over a dropped Alouette pass or a soft goal against the Habs, I never heard him complain about the tough hand he was dealt as far as his health was concerned."
Peter was an active volunteer with the Kidney Foundation of Canada, becoming Ontario president and national vice-president. His transplanted kidney lasted a miraculous 28 years; it was still going strong at the end.
In retirement, he took up birding with a passion. He wintered in Florida, and became a volunteer bird naturalist with the Sarasota Audubon Society, guiding visitors around the famed Celery Fields wetlands. His only complaint about Florida was that he couldn't get the Habs games on TV.
Peter took joy in life, and played the game with courage. His ashes were scattered on the waters of Lake Ontario at a spot on the Toronto Islands, near where he often looked for orioles.
Lynda Ackroyd is Peter's wife.