SAEGERT, PETER FREDERICK MACLEAN 1937 – 2021 Peter died on June 11, 2021, in Newmarket, ON, following a lengthy illness. He was born on December 28, 1937 in Maymyo, Burma (now Pyin U Lwin, Myanmar), the son of Lt. Col John (Jack) M. Saegert and Anne Primrose Fyshe (later Anne Fairlie). When war broke out and Jack went to fight, Peter and Anne returned to her parents’ home in Toronto where Peter went to Brown School.
Jack died in 1946 and Anne was remarried to John Fairlie, and soon Peter was joined by brothers Tam (Alison), David, and Matt (Heather) Fairlie. Peter attended Crescent School, Trinity College School in Port Hope, ON, and then Queen’s University, where he played football with the Golden Gaels and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The friends he made at both TCS and Queen’s continued to be important to him throughout his life. His career in large-project construction management took him to San Francisco, the BC Interior, Labrador City and Montreal, where he worked on the construction of habitat ’67 and the Olympic Stadium, among other projects. It was also in Montreal that he met Jeannine Lucas, the love of his life. They were married in 1968 and had three children: Kimberly (Ken Darlington), Alexander (Becky) and Maxwell (Christina).
The family settled in Toronto in 1982 and Peter pursued work projects in New York, Philadelphia, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary, Sarnia and Tunisia. Peter is survived by his wife of 53 years, Jeannine; his children, their spouses and his grandchildren Olivia and Charles Darlington; Jack Saegert; and Thomas, Ella and Michael Saegert. He will also be lovingly remembered by his brothers and their families, his Fyshe and Fairlie cousins and their families, and his many friends. Peter loved good food and good fun and was always one to indulge in the myriad pleasures of life.
He was notorious for finding the longest possible way to tell a story or make a point, and as an avid reader, he was our in-house source for information of all kinds long before the existence of the Internet.
The world feels a little smaller without him, but we will remember him when we hear one of his favourite songs and think of how he loved to sing and to dance. A memorial service will be held at a later date when conditions permit. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Margaret Bahen Hospice in Newmarket.