Scheduled Services

PostHeaderIcon PETER P. LAURENZA of HADLEY, MASS, June 25, 1951 – July 9, 2016

 

 

Hadley, Peter P. Laurenza, loving father, husband, brother and friend, passed away Saturday at 65 years young after a life packed with love, laughter and friendships.

 

Pete grew up in Methuen, MA where he roamed through his childhood fishing and hunting, spending great amounts of time in the woods of Vermont and New Hampshire and on the waters around Plum Island. Pete graduated in 1969 from Methuen High School and his love of all creatures led him to major in Wildlife Biology at UMass Amherst, graduating in 1973. He worked at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service before beginning his career for the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the Farmer’s Home Administration and later Rural Housing. He retired in 2009 after serving the needs of  families and businesses in the rural communities of Western Massachusetts for 33 years, a job he loved for the assistance he could offer those in need.   

 

Pete found great satisfaction working and playing hard. He loved the outdoors and was an avid sportsman in the best sense of that word. His knowledge of birds, animals, insects and fish was legendary; he was a man almost of another era who lived in tune to nature and the rhythms of the earth. He was never happier than when biking, fishing in the Quabbin, hunting, boating on the Connecticut River, playing softball, umpiring, playing cards with the guys, or happily gardening in his big vegetable garden. His home was always the family gathering place with Pete on the grill, cooking and making everyone welcome. Pete loved life in the Connecticut Valley in all of its seasons and he loved the community of Hadley.

 

No one was a better father to his daughters than Pete who was amazed by his four beautiful children. They were the love of his life and he gave them all his best throughout their lives. He was a steady, guiding force, the rock of the family and never was a man more loved and admired for his years of devotion and service to them. Pete is survived by his wife Mary Lou, his lifelong best friend and partner, daughters Carolynn and her husband Jason Schweid, Amy, Marie and her fiancée Briana Cahn, and Christy and her husband Jeff Touma. Also surviving Pete are his brothers Robert, James and his wife JoAnne, Paul and his wife Ann Maria, his seven Londergan in-laws and their spouses, and dozens of nieces and nephews and their children who all love their Uncle Pete. Pete is also survived by his blood brother Steve Hickey who was the best friend a man could ever have.

 

Calling hours will be on Thursday July 14 from 4:00-7:00 pm at Douglass Funeral Service in Amherst, MA. A Celebration of Life for Peter will be held at the Hadley Farms Meeting House, 41 Russell Street, Hadley on Friday July 15 at 11:00 am followed by luncheon at noon, all are welcome to join to celebrate and remember Pete. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the charity of your choice.

 

 

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