NEW HARTFORD — Peter L. Hawley of New Hartford, died on “Kilobyte Day,” Oct. 24, 2024. Even though he loved and understood how digital machines work, Peter would have cared little that his earthly life ended on 1024. He was practical and not sentimental. Peter cared deeply about others and lived for three things: To race, to ski, and most of all, to be helpful to others.
The meetings of the Hartford Track Club, of which he was president for over 20 years, and of the Hartford Marathon Foundation will be a little shorter, without Peter to remember the nuances of the myriad details of conducting a road race.
Peter served on the ski patrol of Ski Butternut for 44 years following college and three years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Since 1990, Peter had been a first aid and outdoor emergency care instructor. In 2014, he achieved a national ski patrol appointment. His patrol director said Peter was the first to report to work, every day that he was on duty with the patrol.
Peter began running at age 35, briefly following in the footsteps of his brother, Tim, and then soundly beating him for 37 years. Many are the runners who were out-kicked to the sound of Peter’s size 12 Brooks Beasts coming out of nowhere. Peter completed 49 marathons including several Bostons and every Hartford Marathon from the inaugural race in 1996 through 2022. He always helped set up the course, too. He “did” the Mt. Washington Road Race three times and ran probably more than a thousand other races.
We are thankful that he was not hit by a car while training for a marathon before dawn or when crossing the Founder’s Bridge on his bicycle to certify the Hartford Marathon course. And that he fully recovered from the mild stroke he had a few years ago. We are thankful for the many years he was a friend, co-worker, mentor, and brother.
Peter graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in 1967. He became an FCC-licensed radio technician, then served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps (graduating first in his class at signal school), and graduated from Wabash College in Indiana. Together with his father and brother, Peter built a house where he lived for 35 years.
At Al’s Seafood, he applied his listening and computer skills to improve processes. As an astute IBM AS400 tech with business knowledge, Peter found a role at Hartford Technologies and worked there until he retired in 2019. Peter volunteered to help CFPA maintain CT Blue Trails.
Peter was the eldest son of Kathleen Lamphier Hawley and Samuel Seymour Hawley. He was predeceased by his parents, brother John, and sister Karen. He is survived by his brother Tim, nephews Sam and John, niece Kirsten, and many friends in the Butternut Ski Patrol, Hartford Track Club, and Hartford Marathon Foundation.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday Nov. 16 at 11 a.m., Rocky Hill Congregational Church, 805 Old Main St., Rocky Hill, CT. Reception at the church to follow. Remote access at https://bit.ly/4fCJe43. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Great Mountain Forest Foundation in Norfolk, CT or volunteering to help the Hartford Track Club conduct a race would be welcomed.
Kindly visit www.thurstonrowefuneralhome.com to send the family an online condolence.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino 
