Agustas Peterle, 93, died June 23, 2010, at The Westerly Hospital. Gus had returned to Stonington in 2008 from his longtime home in West Wardsboro, Vt.
He was born Nov. 28, 1916, in Amesbury, Mass., where he grew up and graduated from high school. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps in Vermont. In World War II from 1941 to 1945, he served as a propeller mechanic for the 3030th Army Air Force Base in North Africa, Sicily, China, Burma, and India.
He had a love of the outdoors from winning long distance ocean swimming races to being a hutman for the Appalachian Mountain Club to his great love of fishing, especially for salmon on the Gaspe in Quebec.
He was married first to Joy Lee in 1947; they divorced in 1965. He then married Joan Scarpace of Mystic in 1977; she died suddenly in 1979.
He was active in the early days of the Pequot Golf Course, the Mystic Rod and Gun Club, and helped build the trail-side museum of the Dennison Pequotsepos Nature Center in 1960. He also "cooked" the annual clambake for Helen Joy Lee of Avondale, R.I., for many years.
Gus is survived by his sister, Dorothy LeBlanc of Newburyport, Mass., and her two children; his children, George, Helen, and Miles Peterle; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A private memorial service is planned.
Donations may be made in Gus's honor to the Appalachian Mountain Club.
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