BRUNSWICK — Peter Janse Haughwout of Brunswick, Maine, died in his home Saturday morning, Oct. 12, 2013, at the age of 85. He was surrounded by music, family and friends.

Peter Haughwout was born Oct. 1, 1928, in Montclair, New Jersey, to James Ard and Lucy Howell Haughwout. As Peter Janse Haughwout, he was named after the first Haughwout to arrive in America in 1660. Peter spent his childhood summers in Belleville, PA, at the Haughwout family farm known as “The Willows,” swimming in the creek, painting the fence, and conducting an assortment of neighborhood mischief.

He attended Montclair, NJ public schools and graduated from Montclair High School. His undergraduate studies were at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he majored in history, and graduated with honors. Peter then worked for the government, and the U.S. Army for 8 years before choosing medicine as his life’s work.

His pre-med training was at George Washington University. Peter attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. His residency in general surgery was at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD. His residency in otolaryngology was at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. He was certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners in 1963. Peter opened a private practice in otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, in Mountain View, CA in 1968.

In December of 1969 he married Marianne Proctor. In 1975 they moved to Brunswick, ME and he practiced privately and worked at both Mid Coast and Parkview Hospitals. During his retirement years he worked for the Maine Worker’s Compensation Board and was an expert witness for many legal cases.

Peter was a voracious reader of medical journals, science writing, history, numerous political journals, and a devotee of the New York Times Sunday Crossword. An avid Democrat, politically active and opinionated, Peter was a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Audubon Society, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Natural Resources Council, the Environmental Defense Fund and contributed to the antinuclear movement both locally and internationally. Among his disappointments were Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2.

He was an active farmer and gardener having planted a garden every year that teemed with raspberries, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, beans and squash. He was a passionate sailor, enjoyed a good game of bridge, and played the piano every day. He loved jazz and baseball. In later years, he wrote frequently to the Haughwout Family Blog (http://thehaughwoutfamily.org), which reflected his humour and quick wit, and where his stories will undoubtedly be enjoyed by relatives for years to come.

Peter is survived by his wife Marianne Proctor Haughwout of Brunswick, ME and their two daughters Margaretha Haughwout of Oakland, CA, and MaryLee Haughwout and her husband Richard White of Mount Rainier, MD. From his previous marriage, he is survived by Andrew and his wife Kathy Hempstead of Princeton, NJ, and Jean Haughwout and her husband John Keevil of Madison, WI. He is also survived by his daughter Peg Gearhart of Eugene, OR. His grandchildren include Margo Haughwout-Keevil, Simon Haughwout-Keevil, Joe Haughwout, Anya Gearhart and Sera Gearhart.

He was the youngest of seven children, predeceased by his six elder siblings Elizabeth, Lucy, Robert, Nancy, John and Jim. Surviving relatives include Peter Blachly (aka Peter Alexander) and Johanna Harkness of Bath, Maine, and 27 other nieces and nephews. He dedicated his body to science.

The memorial service for Peter J. Haughwout will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013, at the Cram Alumni House at 83 Federal Street in Brunswick, ME. Reverend William C. Saunders will officiate.

Memorial donations can be made in his name to Partners in Health, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Doctors Without Borders. The immediate Peter J. Haughwout family, Marianne, Margaretha and MaryLee would like to thank the CHANS Hospice. His final note to his wife Marianne had an excerpt from an e.e. cummings poem in it: “love is the every only god.”