Peter Wilde

Peter Michael Wilde was born in San Francisco on 26 May 1953. He died at home in Santa Cruz on 14 October 2024. His life was filled with friends, music and thoughtful meandering. San Francisco was where he attended public school including Lowell High School. An exemplary student, he won many awards. Family vacations in the Santa Cruz mountains gave him a love for that area, and he was drawn to esoteric UCSC. He graduated with degrees in Physics, Astronomy and Computer Science. After college, Peter continued a lifelong pursuit in science, conducting research and analyzing environmental data at Kinnetic Laboratories and then assisted the start - up of ADH. Alessandro Hnatt, Christian Koker and Ken Kronschnabel had this to say about Peter: Peter was hired by Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc. in July 1979. Then in 2005, he started working for ADH Environmental (ADH) where he was instrumental in using his skills to ensure anything required for information technology matters was successfully accomplished for the recently incorporated company. In 2021, he reunited with the Kinnetic team after Kinnetic and ADH merged. Pete was brilliant at all aspects related to computer technology, from programming to web design to data manipulation and statistical analyses. He was an excellent technical writer who could elucidate complex statistical data results in technical reports often based upon charts, graphs and figures he developed as well as verbally explain these results to any audience. He was a mentor to many staff and would always take the time to assist anyone requiring his expertise to resolve any issue. He was highly skilled in meeting with clients whether for business development, technical presentations or competitive contract interviews. He was a consummate professional with unique skills and always maintained a positive attitude in any situation. He also participated in the installation, deployment, usage, and retrieval of oceanographic and water quality measurement systems. Pete possessed an uncommon mastery of scientific database management, statistical analysis, and results evaluation. His professional skills were highly sought after in the San Francisco Bay Area environmental science community of which he was an integral part. Those lucky enough to have worked with Pete enjoyed a very rare blend of scientific rigor and humorous accessibility that he always provided. Peter was an accomplished and talented musician. His musical performances began in the junior high school band playing tuba. In time, the tuba was replaced by the guitar, eventually leading to bass guitar, his true calling. The list of bands he played with were many; Zip City, Citizen, Pacific Rhy'm, Charanga Nueve, summaDat, Broken English, Lost Borders, The Little Big Band, Mystery Date to mention just a few. He played various styles of music; he composed and arranged besides being a player in the bands. Music was such an essential part of his nature and the people he played with his intimate family. On New Year's Day in 1987, Peter and Nadine were married, on a somewhat drizzly day at the Corralitos Womens Hall. It began a 37-year love adventure that included many parties on that day, a 25 year anniversary and sometimes rockets. A passion for travel that took them across the world. Some of their best married moments were while traveling. Peter adored Santa Cruz--the natural beauty, the friendships, the music. He was a true and loyal friend who, given the choice to be right or kind, instinctively would choose kind. Peter's intelligence and inquiring mind, along with his wacky sense of humor and excessive love of puns made him a sometimes painful joy to be around and will leave a lasting impact on those who loved him. He is deeply missed. A celebration of his life will be held at his home on New Year's Day 2025.