Obituary of Peter T. Feltham

On August 16, 2023, Peter Thomas Feltham, 62, beloved husband, father, brother, and friend passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family, following a 15 month battle with Glioblastoma (brain cancer). Peter was born December 20, 1960 in Commack, Long Island to Reginald and Mary Feltham. He was the youngest of seven children. Peter was a happy, sweet child, easy going and athletic. His siblings remember him for his fun personality. He rode a unicycle around town and occasionally skipped high school to spend the day at the beach. Peter took up soccer and played year round on club teams and for the Commack Spartans. Peter's father Reggie helped Peter buy his first hang glider, and Peter loved taking it sailing off the cliffs at Callahan's beach. Later in life, he introduced it to his second wife, Bonnie, and they jumped off cliffs together in Cooperstown. After graduating high school, Peter attended SUNY Geneseo to play soccer. He was injured freshman year, and found other fun things to do in the small college town. Peter was a master foosball player, running the table at The Idle Hour. It was at Geneseo that he took a furniture-making class and discovered his love of woodworking. It was also at Geneseo that Peter developed a love of biking, and biked all around upstate NY. He even biked from Geneseo home to Long Island several times, which was a trick since he couldn't bike on any interstates! It was also at Geneseo that he met his first wife Karen. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Peter pursued his Masters Degree and certification enabling him to become a technology teacher. Karen and Peter lived in Boston, New Hampshire, and outside of Ithaca before settling in the Greek Revival on Afton Lake. Each of these houses were abandoned and rundown when they moved in, but Peter transformed them into homes. Peter's greatest joy was spending time with his children. When Jake, Graham, and Anna moved to various far-away cities, Peter visited them regularly, adopting their sports teams as his own (the 'Mingos, the Madison, Wisconsin minor league soccer team was a particular favorite). His children never doubted that he would be a fan of whatever they did. Peter enjoyed watching his son Graham play music with his band Summer People. Peter was loved by all the band members and is remembered for his vegetarian chili and cornbread, as well as for being an objectively great guy. When Peter became a grandfather in 2016 ("Grandpa Pete!") he embraced the role with typical joyous zeal. Peter was very close to all his siblings and their children. The families traveled together often and always came to graduations and weddings. One trip Peter remembers was a trip to Newfoundland, to visit the town his grandfather had come from. They camped out, as they often did, and much fun was had by all. There were other trips to Cape Cod, where they all rented a house and camped outside. Every year at Christmas, before his parents passed away, all the 7 siblings' families would return to Commack and crowd into the house. They told stories, laughed loudly, played music with more enthusiasm than skill, and made rather merry. Peter's home on Afton Lake was the location of many a Feltham Fest reunion, with camping, swimming and friendly "boat wars" on the lake. Although the house on Afton Lake is relatively isolated, Peter was able to make it a home base for the international community of Felthams and friends. Not only was Peter a teacher, but he was also a long-time soccer coach. He started Bainbridge-Guilford's program in 1990, and stayed involved for over 30 years. Peter was voted coach of the year twice, and his team often won the sportsmanship award. Sportsmanship and having fun were far more important to him than winning games. He coached his children Jake, Graham and Anna, as well as his step-sons Brandon and Devon. His wife Bonnie made it a family affair as she was his scorekeeper for 10 years. As a tribute to everything he gave to local soccer, the Bainbridge Guilford School Board voted to rename and dedicate the field to Peter. In October, 2022, the Peter Feltham Soccer Complex was dedicated. The dedication was attended by family from far and wide as well as many former players. Peter is very proud that many of his former players have become coaches (15+) and stay in contact with him. Peter taught technology at Bainbridge-Guilford for almost 30 years. Peter started teaching back when technology was called shop class, and Peter was one of the few shop teachers that had all his fingers! Some of the projects Peter did were air powered cars, candy machines, as well as a parasail that Peter attempted to sail on the frozen surface of Afton lake with feet strapped into skates. He fell into the lake on one or more of these adventures. This did little to dampen his spirit. When Peter retired, he took a 'gap year', and traveled. First, he went with his son Graham and brother Andrew to Ireland. In Ireland, they sailed with his nephew Jonah and wife Elaine through hurricanes, making do with damp bunks, shotty jibs, and much Guinness, making memories that last to this day. Between hurricanes, he got to see many small harbor towns when they docked each night. Next, he traveled with his daughter Anna and brother Andrew to Lebanon where they visited with his sister Betsy and brother-in-law Pat, as well as his nephew Blake and partner Emma. They got to experience delicious food, visited many historical sites and swam in the Mediterranean Sea. Peter demonstrated his mastery of the universal language of foosball when he jumped in and played with local kids at their outdoor foosball table in the cities of Tripoli and Tyre in Lebanon. Peter had a great, enduring love of water. He grew up near the ocean and went back every year to Robert Moses State park to swim in the sea. One of his favorite expressions was, "Salt Water Cures Everything." He enjoyed the "healing powers" of Afton Lake daily, swimming, sailing and kayaking in the warmer months and showing off impressive backwards skating moves in the winter. In the winter Peter loved creating candlelit ice sculptures to be enjoyed by passersby. When the kids were young, Peter would build up walls on the sledding hill down to the lake, pouring water on them overnight so they'd freeze into 'luge runs.' Sleds never went so fast. Peter is survived by his best friend and partner of 13 years and wife of one, Bonnie; children Jakob (Blair) Feltham, Graham (Lior) Feltham, and Anna Feltham, step-sons Brandon and Devon Scherhaufer. Also, twin grandsons Noah and Johan, siblings John (Jan) Feltham, Betsy (Pat) McGreevy, Sue (Steve) Hamilton, Barbara Feltham-Hayden, Tim (Holly) Feltham, Andrew (Kathy) Feltham, as well as many nieces and nephews, colleagues and former soccer players and students. Peter was predeceased by his parents Reggie and Mary Feltham as well as his first grandchild Moses. Peter's Glioblastoma brain cancer diagnosis came out of the blue for him and his family. He had been biking many miles every day and been very active. His family is very grateful to Lynn Shirken, who took him to the hospital when he had some minor early symptoms. Finding the tumor early gave Peter 15 months with his family, and they are forever grateful to her. Peter was able to go on a honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas, and take a trip to Madison to see the opening game of the 'Mingos, with an amazing goal, and spend quality time with all his children and their families. Peter's family also wishes to thank the committed and compassionate doctors at NY Presbyterian Glioblastoma Center, specifically Dr. Lassman and Esther Kim, NP. Calling hours will be at C.H. Landers Funeral Chapel, 21 Main St. Sidney, NY on Tuesday August 22nd from 4:00-6:00 PM. There will be a service the next day, also at the funeral chapel, on Wednesday August 23rd beginning at 11:00 AM. Peter's ashes will be scattered in locations that were meaningful to him, including Madison, Wisconsin with his dear grandson, Moses. If desired, donations can be made in Peter's honor to StacheStrong, a Vestal-based group aimed at supporting research on Glioblastoma, or to the Chenango County SPCA where Peter and Bonnie adopted their beloved cat Button.