JOHN L. PEAKES ’56

JOHN L. PEAKES, an actor who co-founded the BoarsHead Theater in Lansing, Mich., died Jan. 26, 2017. He was 83. A member of Alpha Tau Omega, he served in the U.S. Navy after graduation. On leave from the Navy, he attended a few plays in New York City and realized that the theater was his prime interest. After his discharge, he attended the Boston Conservatory while teaching at Plymouth Academy, but moved to New York City, where he worked in theater. He then went to Tufts University, where he acted in and directed many productions, and received a master’s degree. After a short time at the University of Iowa, he and several friends moved to Michigan and ran two small regional theaters. In 1976 they moved to the newly built BoarsHead Theater, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. In retirement, he moved to the Philadelphia area and continued to perform there. Predeceased by one son, among those who survive are his wife, Judith Peakes; his former wife, Constance Brown Peakes; one son; two grandsons; two stepchildren; his sister; and several nieces and nephews, including Eli U. Kendall ’11.