Walter Stidger Peckinpaugh

Walter Stidger Peckinpaugh died September 13, 2013. He was born to Roger Thorpe and Mildred Peckinpaugh in Cleveland, Ohio, October 13, 1915, the second of four boys. His father was a major league baseball player so his early life was spent around such greats as Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson which probably influenced his great love of sports.
He graduated from Shaw High, in East Cleveland, Ohio, as the first student to receive nine letters for Football, Basketball and Baseball. He went on to graduate from the University of Michigan where he was elected captain of the baseball team two years. He was also a member of the Michigamua and the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After college he played a year in the minor leagues but his career was interrupted by World War II.
In 1942, he married Annabel Dredge, the love of his life for 71 years. They had three children. He was employed at an industrial brush company as Director of Purchasing. He served the community by coaching Little League baseball and as a Cub Scout troop leader. He was involved in the Junior Achievement program. He was a Trustee of the Christian Church in Cleveland and later in the Hamilton Presbyterian Church. He was a life-long member of the Scottish Rite.
In 1982, he and Annabel moved to Hamilton, Montana, where he finished a log home that their son, Steve, had erected. He spent the last thirty plus years caring for and enjoying their property that looked out at the Bitterroot Mountains.
He was a quiet man with great love of family, with quiet humor, and great one-liners. He enjoyed theater, bridge, dancing and especially golf. He was a member of the Hamilton Golf course. He will be missed.
He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers (Roger, Ralph, and John), and one grandson (Ben). He is survived by his wife, Annabel; children, Walter Jr. (Marilyn), Steve (Catherine), Sarah Hoemann (Warren); four grandsons (Tom, Nate, Dan, and Jeff), one granddaughter (Katie) and six great grandchildren.
Interment was private. Friends may send memorials to the Shriners Hospitals for Children or a charity of their choice.