Peter J. Schellenberg

Peter J. Schellenberg, 90, of Natick, Mass., died September 7, 2021 after a long illness and decline.

He was born in Teaneck, New Jersey.  Peter graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from the City University of New York and received his MBA from Boston University.  He was married to Marjorie Poppens Schellenberg on November 18, 1961.

He was the president and co-owner, with Marjorie, of Electrical Components founded in 1962.   He was a past president of Natick Rotary Club with over 20 years of perfect attendance and a Paul Harris Fellow.  He was a Town Meeting member, Dept. of Public Works commissioner, and member of the Charles River Watershed.  He was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills for decades.

Even with the pattern of vascular dementia’s losses and plateaus, Peter was still Peter.  The short term memory loss meant he lived powerfully in the moment.  Son in law Paul discovered he could tap back into Peter’s love of golf by suggesting a dollar a hole.  Meg found the same held true for mini golf.  Some of Peter endured.

If Peter means rock, then he was the tough but sparkling granite of his beloved New England coastline and hills.  Certainly, some of his abilities were stripped away by the dementia—one thin sheet of mica at a time.  The ability to build a Heathkit stereo and color tv, to engineer a system to keep chocolate in temper, to build and run a successful business, and to be a great boss.

Some of Peter’s best qualities were hard-faceted crystals—his facility with names and faces, his luck at everything from the Rotary Club Penny Sale to bingo at the Eliot Center, his desire to help people, his sense of humor, and the deep vein of love for friends and family.  Those were the qualities with him right up to the end. 

He was predeceased by his father, Arnault Schellenberg, his mother Anne Schellenberg, his brother James Schellenberg, and his sister Dorothy Urquhart.  He is survived by Marjorie; his sister Anne Diehl, of Point Pleasant, NY; his daughter Meg Richardson, her husband Paul, her daughters Abigail and Rebecca, all of San Ramon, California; and his daughter Cathy and her husband Joe Sinko, of Natick.

Visiting hours will be in the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park St, NATICK COMMON on Wednesday, October 6th, 2021 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Memorial service to be held next summer at the UU Society of Wellesley Hills, Mass.

To honor Peter’s memory, please splash on your favorite cologne or a hat that makes you look sharp and send some money to a cause that makes the world a kinder place.

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