Original written by Pat’s family
Patricia Peters Hundhausen (1941 - 2018) - With family and friends by her side, Patricia Moore Peters Hundhausen passed away peacefully on December 1, 2018. She is survived by her husband, David; three children—Ellen (Robert Triebold) , Anne Catherine (Tim Shamey) and Christopher (Angela Taylor); three grandchildren—Kyra, Kelsey and Lily; and other relatives and countless friends. Although she is gone, Pat’s legacy of creating loving communities of people endures.
Born in Rochester, New York, on January 11, 1941 to Rachel Moore Cushman Peters and Stanley Bruce Peters, Pat grew up in Kent, Ohio and graduated from Kent State University High School in 1959. She completed a B.S. in speech and English education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1964. She met David in 1965, when she appeared in several plays he directed at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc Center. Having discovered more than an artistic match in each other, they married in 1966.
Pat started as an English teacher at Central Middle School in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 1969, David and Pat moved to Madison for David’s graduate studies. In 1971, they moved back to Waukesha. To combat chronic fatigue syndrome, Pat learned transcendental meditation, which she faithfully practiced until her death. Motivated to serve others, she became a special education teacher at Summit House, a residential treatment center for emotionally-disturbed children in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Pat earned a master’s degree in special education at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater in 1974. She then began a distinguished 21-year career as a special education administrator and teacher, including serving a term as the president of a state-wide organization for special education teachers and administrators. She was the principal of a school she created at St. Rose’s Residential Treatment Center for Adolescent Girls in Milwaukee. While there, Pat implemented many innovative changes, including the development of a partnership with UW-Whitewater to provide St. Rose as a practicum site for
special education graduate students. She then served as the principal of St. Aemilian’s Residential Treatment Center for Adolescent Boys in Milwaukee. In 1986, Pat returned to the Waukesha Public Schools as a special education teacher until her retirement in 1996.
Pat and David were life partners and best friends. After retirement, they traveled extensively, touring and meeting people on 6 continents and 20 countries. Anyone who knew Pat will attest to her eye for capturing the people, places and moments of her travel in photographs. She often used her photos to stitch together descriptive narratives that brought others with her on her journeys.
In 2006, Pat and David moved to Port Townsend. There, they found a community of like-minded people in the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (QUUF), many of whose members were aging. This got Pat thinking about how she could spend her final years living in an old-fashioned neighborhood rather than a retirement home. She envisioned building a community where people could age in place with the love and support of their neighbors. Drawn to a Danish co-housing model, Pat and David led a presentation at QUUF and Pat facilitated a course called “Aging Successfully.” Ultimately, Pat’s vision culminated in Quimper Village, a 28-unit, 42-person $10.2 million senior co-housing community that opened in November, 2017. It is the first senior co-housing development in Washington State and has since become a national model.
Pat touched the lives of her family, colleagues and friends. Those who knew her best fondly remember her as having endless curiosity, an artistic sensibility, a sharp wit, empathic listening skills and a passion for peace-keeping and helping others. Aside from her family, Pat leaves behind circles of close-knit friends from Wisconsin, QUUF, and Quimper Village who will dearly miss her calming presence, wisdom and friendship.
Pat’s memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at Quimper United Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Avenue, Port Townsend, WA 98368. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent in Pat’s memory to establish a memorial grove of birch trees to honor deceased members of Quimper Village. Please send contributions, payable to “Quimper Village,” to Quimper Village, 3105 Sage Lane, Port Townsend, WA 98368.