Peter W. Shih

Peter Warburton Shih

March 15, 1943 – October 22, 2019

Peter was born in China’s wartime capital, Chongqing, to Tao-tsi “John” Shih and Isobel Harriet Chien during World War II.  He emigrated from China in 1948 and settled in Queens, NY where he lived as a child in the multiculturally integrated United Nations housing complex, Parkway Village.  As the son of a UN employee, Peter returned to Asia every several years for home leave.

At age 16, Peter graduated from Jamaica High School in 1959 and took a job at an advertising firm in New York City for a year to stay close to his mother who was battling breast cancer.  It was this first exposure to advertising that piqued Peter’s interest and drove his desire to study Advertising and Communications at Penn State.  As one of the original MadMen in the 1960’s, and for his outstanding work in his field, Peter received the Penn State Bellisario College of Communications Alumni Fellow award in 2004.

Peter returned to New York City in the 1960’s and resided in the East Village at time when activism, music and art clashed with capitalism and the establishment, thereby catapulting him into the mix.  As crime escalated, the birth of his son prompted Peter to sublet his apartment in the East Village in 1969 to concert promoter Bill Graham, and move to Vermont to become an innkeeper near the mountains.  Peter believed that Americans - having more resources and leisure time - would pursue skiing as a recreational sport in bigger and bigger numbers.  When a local once asked him why he moved to Vermont, Peter viscerally responded, “it reminds me of my home in China.” He wasn’t the only one to feel that connection. Pearl Buck was an early dinner guest at the lodge, wanting to meet innkeeper who shared a mutual admiration for China and Vermont. In 1978, Peter was delighted to host the US Ski Team for Vermont’s first World Cup Race at Stratton Mountain and during the summers, Peter stocked the lodge’s pond with trout and hosted Orvis’s fly fishing school, inspiring his interest in the sport. He returned to New York City in the late 1970s to return to advertising, working both nationally and internationally on key sporting events such as World Cup Soccer, the Olympics and World Track and Field.

Peter was his happiest when rolling dice on a backgammon set, shuffling cards for gin rummy, bridge, or poker.  He also adored word games like Scrabble or the New York Times crossword and acrostic puzzles or his preferred London Times cryptic crosswords.  He was a skilled fly fisherman, avid golfer and a terrific skier and tennis/paddle player when youth was on his side.  Peter also had a special passion and devotion to nature, his garden and to observing all of the creatures that inhabited his Weston, CT surroundings.

Peter was an inquisitive, passionate man of considerable interests who expressed his emotional view of the world through animated, riveting stories.  Sometimes (ahem, often) the stories ran on repeat.  Sometimes they inspired.  Sometimes they made people laugh. Other times they revealed a long road of adversity.  Peter will surely be missed.

He was the beloved partner of Ellen McCormick (Weston, CT), father of Stephen, Bullet, Polly and Isobel, "step-father" to Wynne and John McCormick and an adored “Gong-Gong” to his grandchildren.  He is also survived by his sister, Mary, and brother, Jerry and two nephews, Christopher and Michael.

A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at Lachat Town Farm in Weston, CT.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to create a garden in Peter’s name at Lachat Town Farm.

https://www.lachattownfarm.org/donate.html