Peter Edward Carnute

Peter Edward Carnute

Peter Edward Carnute died Jan. 10. He was 86.

Carnute was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 2, 1935, to Peter A. and Philomena F. Carnute, graduating from Pittsfield High School. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1954, serving with distinction for over ten years and attaining the rank of staff sergeant. Thanks to the Air Force and a New Year's Eve conga line in Trafalgar Square, he met his future wife, Shirley E. Smith, in London. He and Shirley married in Pittsfield on June 6, 1959. After completing his tool and die apprenticeship, he worked for General Electric and Naval Ordinance, as well as Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut. The couple relocated to California, where he worked for Caterpillar for twenty-two years, first as a tool and die maker, later graduating up to engineering. When Caterpillar left California, he started a new career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, working in the nuclear field for ten years before retiring in 1993.

He will be missed by older sisters Dolores MacFarlane of Westfield, Massachusetts, and Marie "Mary" Lambert of Pittsfield, as well as Shirley's extended family and their many nieces and nephews.

His ashes will be taken to Arlington National Cemetery.