Peter Watson

610 241 5679

610 436 6080 ext 117

Engineering College London UK - 1974
1974 - 1977 Brown and Root offshore oil project
1977 - 1979 VSO Zambia (British Peace Corps)
1980 - 1984 - Steel industry
1985 - 1989 - Welding industry
1989 - 2011 Armstrong Chemtec Global
2011 - present Armstrong Engineering Coatesville PA

Extensive traveling with >60 countries under my belt. I took six months off in 1976 to sail from Las Palmas to Antigua and crewed 2 yachts in the Grenadines during the charter season. I like Rugby, fishing, shooting, hunting and sailing. Fine Wine and fast cars........
Update 7-1-2021

Children - daughter Sarah is living in Yucca Valley CA. Owner Soul Bunny Silver bespoke commissions -
Thomas is working at Armstrong and is one year away from a BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Widener.
Henry is a Military Police Officer in the USMC

REUNION 2010
The Reunion was splendid. It was quite poignant seeing friends from so long ago who had changed but in a sense there is a continuity and we carried on where we had left off, older, I think wiser, and with many memories to share. I conclude we lived well, in better times than those which face our children and their children, and I left for home thankful that I knew you and remain blessed with your particular friendships.

UPDATE: 2010
On Friday October 26th I, along with 70 other persons from 34 different countries, took an Oath of Allegiance to the United States and became an American Citizen. It felt like coming home and the process didn't really take that long in the grand scheme of things. Now my youngest son is a citizen by default as he is 16. Despite all the aches and pains of modern society there is no doubt America offers more opportunity and more space and freedom than the UK or any European country. The Constitution is a great document and means more to me probably than it does to most young Americans. I remember Civics and must have learned something from it. There is precious little freedom of speech in the UK which is turning into a Police State as I write. So thanks to all who made my life enjoyable at NT during my days in Wilmette. As a matter of interest to a few I saw Angus Johnston III in Wilmette a few weeks ago and we have kept in touch despite the distance, keeping our Parent's mutual friendships alive.

The funny thing is that in the sixties / early seventies I never appreciated the magnificent opportunity NTHS presented. It was a difficult time for America and also for me. Having been in Winnetka recently I marveled at the quality of what has to be one of the great foundation schools in the world. Even with my impoverished performance I recall my studies in History with great joy. Dr Angus Johnston was a superb tutor and I remain friends with his wife and son today. He and my father were great chess partners and close friends. I remember Miss Waltz's rhetorical teaching of Russian History and her bitter dislike of communism which I now share. I remember Langiappe which I could neither pronounce nor understand. I remember Mr Fly who disliked hippies and had a smooth way with the girls but by golly he was a good driving instructor. I remember my unrequited love when I was a sophomore for a Senior (I remember her name; Mimi Weissenberger) who was my Study hall Supervisor. I don't think she ever knew I existed. I remember the abundance of new cars driven by happy teens who had been blessed by their parents and it all seemed so normal. Until one has lived in the developing world or trekked through the deserts of Iraq trying to mend broken refineries it is impossible to understand how unique and privileged we were during our time at school during those relatively care free years. I remember Dave Dickman who gave me a great understanding of US History and Madame Rangaves, with her cane, and who drove me nuts; but whose teaching, now applied, has let me travel through France and hold forth with the locals on business and politics and of course, sailing. These teachers made a great impression on me and I did well in the classes I liked. I hated gym and the idiotic time schedule that made us leave damp, if not wet, after having attempted to dry oneself with an off mauve colored towel which was so rough that today any school presenting a child with such an implement would be prosecuted for child abuse. I disliked swimming even more and vividly recall Mr Robertson as I am sure all the boys do. As a frosh I feared having my books pushed down the stairwell, and being late for class. Being late still galls me. New Trier was huge then and I think there were over 5000 students. I disliked the anonymity of the place but delighted in the closeness of the then new TV production class. The computer the school had was an IBM card sorter and the size of a car and I dismissed computers as something "not for me" which is funny as I now live on line and have 2Tb of hard drive. I remember being able to drive to school occasionally and felt quite smug about it even though my neighbor had a 1963 'Vette and I drove a Rambler. I hated sports and would I suppose today be classed as a geek. There were a number of girls by which I was awestruck but didn't even know how to approach them then. It was a lively, frothy, busy and happy time. I never ventured up the road to the drugstore near the train tracks as it always seemed alien from the school - almost off limits. What else? (This is written as a stream of consciousness so it is not chronological.) I remember Auto Shop and Mr Perrault who was able to keep his 55 Chevy in marvelous condition with groups of willing helpers.

Lunch seemed to be either tuna-fish sandwiches or sardine sandwiches for four years and it never crossed my mind to complain. Ahh simplicity! I of course remember many people and it may or may not be the place to write about you - so I will refrain from saying more. I think the football pitch was vandalized once during 1968 perhaps concurrent to the Convention in Chicago which let loose so many demons of rebellion at the time. The war in Viet Nam did polarize us to a degree but I do not think many of us at the time had a clue as to the history of that troubled land. Were it not for than war I would not be in England and were it not for New Trier I would have not seen a quarter of the places I have.

I conclude by qualifying that these are my most resonant memories I have and I do from time to time revisit and add to them. I hope you find them of interest and perhaps share some of them.

Locust

NTE

College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering
London 1970 - 1973
Past Memberships include:
The Welding Institute (UK)
Institution of Corrosion Science and Technology UK
NACE
Founder Fellow Institution of Diagnostic Engineers

Dr. Johnston - a University Level instruction from a man with a mind like a steel trap.