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In addition to filling roles as teacher, coach and administrator at Phillips Academy, Peter McKee was an active participant in Andover and Sunapee organizations
December 15, 2005
ANDOVER, Mass.—Peter Q. McKee, 82, a retired teacher and former associate headmaster of Phillips Academy, died Dec. 14 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., following complications from a heart attack suffered earlier in the month. A resident of New London, N.H., he and his wife Jean have owned a home in the Lake Sunapee area for more than 50 years.
For 42 years, McKee and his wife were a familiar presence on the Andover campus. Originally hired in 1947 as a physics teacher by Headmaster Claude Fuess, McKee spent four decades serving Fuess and three subsequent headmasters in various capacities. In addition to physics, he taught math, chemistry, general science and astronomy. At various times he also served as a coach for football, skiing and ski-jumping.
McKee held several different administrative roles during his years at Andover, including those of house counselor, dean of students, dean of faculty, chair of the science department and associate headmaster. He also served as acting headmaster from January 1989 until his retirement in August 1989. He wrote several problem books and course outlines as well as text material, also editing a dictionary of chemistry and physics for high schools.
In an article written in the Andover Bulletin upon McKee’s retirement, Jack Richards, a colleague of McKee’s, said, “One would expect that, with so many varied challenges, Peter might not be able to maintain his excellence as a classroom teacher, but the annual rave reviews from his students attest that, among his many talents, teaching is supreme.”
As a testament to the esteem in which he was held by those who knew him, the Andover Class of 1955 dedicated its class scholarship to McKee and his wife during its 40th reunion in 1995. Among the many students who came under his tutelage was a young George W. Bush, whom he coached in JV football.
As busy as he was with his Phillips Academy responsibilities, McKee was an equally active member of outside organizations. He is a former trustee and chairman of the board of the Pike School in Andover, a former vestryman of the Christ Church in Andover, and a former governor of the North Andover Country Club. He also was a trustee of the Hurricane Island (Maine) Outward Bound School.
Upon his retirement, McKee became equally active in organizations in the Lake Sunapee area. He was a trustee of New London Hospital and one of the founding members of Adventures in Learning, an adult education group in New London that is affiliated with Colby-Sawyer College. He served two terms as president of that group and also taught courses.
When not working, McKee was an avid sportsman who loved to ski, golf, and play tennis with his wife, children, and grandchildren. According to his wife, he also spent four year working on a physics book that, in the end, his publisher concluded was too hard for anyone to read. “There are a few people who have copies,” she chuckles fondly, “but writing it kept him happy for four years.”
Born in Bennington, Vt., on Nov. 24, 1923, McKee graduated from Holderness School in 1941. He earned an A.B. in physics from Middlebury College in 1947 and an EdM degree in science in 1954 from Harvard University. From 1942-1945, he served as a B-24 pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corp, and flew 50 missions in the European theater during WWII.
McKee is survived by his wife, Jean C. McKee; his son, Peter Q. McKee Jr.; his two daughters, Cynthia McKee Scott and Patricia McKee Halsey ’77; his brother, James E. McKee Jr.; his sister, Grace M. Verbeck; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held in the spring at St. Andrews Church in New London N.H. and at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. The memorial service at Phillips Academy is scheduled to be held during Reunion Weekend on Friday, June 9 at 2 p.m. in Cochran Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be sent in his name to the Lake Sunapee Visiting Nurse Association, the New London Hospital or the Peter Q. McKee Scholarship Fund at Phillips Academy. McKee will be buried in the chapel cemetery on the grounds of Phillips Academy.
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