Peter Carey Belval, of Needham, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 24th surrounded by family. He was born August 4th, 1935 in Willimantic, Connecticut. Pete was preceded in death by his parents Urban and Alice (Carey) Belval and his sister Jean deCastro of Westborough MA. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Josephine; his daughter Linda Belval Kickham of Pompano Beach, FL; his sons Peter and his wife Meredith of Scituate, MA; and Scott and his wife Tracy of Needham, MA; and his sister Ellen and her husband Tom Williams of Orlando, FL. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Peter, Katie, Taylor, Ryan and Hailey and many nieces and nephews.
Pete grew up in Norwich Connecticut and was a 1953 graduate of Norwich Free Academy. His family enjoyed summering in Groton Long Point. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree at Boston University in 1957 and began working in Boston. He met his wife, Josephine (Scarcella) on Cape Cod and they settled in Needham to raise their family. He loved going to the games and events for his children and was a long time Needham Little League coach.
Pete and Jo built a cottage (the son of a builder, he did a lot of it himself!) at Priscilla Beach in Plymouth, MA where he loved spending his summers hanging out on the deck with his trademark Budweiser with many friends and neighbors stopping by.
Pete shared a close relationship with his grandchildren and loved to go to their games and school events. He was thrilled to watch them develop and thrive. He was proud of the adults they became. Pete enjoyed life. It got him up early every day and got him going.
Never one to sit idle, Pete worked at Applied Plastics in Norwood, MA until he was forced to retire at 85 when he became sick.
Pete loved following the Boston sports teams, most notably the Red Sox finally winning the World Series in 2004 after 86 years and sharing that experience with his grandchildren. He instilled his love of sports with his extended family and so enjoyed when one of his grandchildren, or another relative, would stop in and watch a game with him. Even when he was sick the last few months, he stayed current with all the local teams watching games with his wife Jo.
Later in life, Pete was introduced to the Village Club in Needham by his brother-in-law Angie. Pete loved the camaraderie of “The Club” and built strong relationships with many of the members and participated in many of its events.
A visitation will be held at the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home 1305 Highland Ave. Needham on Friday, May 29th from 9:30-11:30am, followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Joseph Church, Needham at 12 noon. Interment St. Mary's Cemetery, Needham.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made for research on Huntington’s Disease a cause close to our hearts Massri.hdsa.org Checks can be sent to HDSA, PO Box 1407, Newburyport, MA, 01950.