RICHARD HENRY PEAKE

Richard Henry Peake, born March 25, 1934, in Chesapeake, VA, passed away peacefully just before his 91st birthday on March 17, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. He was preceded in death by his wife of many years, Martha Peake and son, Dwight Peake. Richard, also known as Dick, is survived by his son Tom Peake, five grandkids and his daughters-in-law, Rhonda Peake and Laurie Peake, and companion of several years, Lona Dorman.

Dick Peake had a love of nature, Shakespeare and teaching. He received his undergraduate and master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a PhD in English from the University of Georgia. He taught at Clinch Valley College in Wise, VA for about 30 years, serving as Chair of the English Department for many of those years. One of his achievements was as the co-founder of the Medieval-Renaissance Festival in 1986, contributing a scholarly presentation when was 88 years old. During the 1990s Richard Peake was a weekly columnist for the Kingsport TimesNews paper. He was also the author of multiple books of fiction and poetry, including Moon’s Black Gold and Beauty’s No Biscuit, stories that took place in the early 1970s Southwest Virginia coalfields.

While he loved Shakespeare and teaching, his passion was birding. For years he coordinated the Christmas Bird Counts in the Wise County area.  Active in the Virginia Society of Ornithology, he led spring birding trips to Mt. Rogers, the highest point in Virginia. In the early 2000s Richard and Martha moved to Galveston to be closer to grandkids and the terrific birding along the Texas coast. Richard led bird trips at the Galveston State Park and during the spring Featherfest festival. He also traveled around the world birdwatching in Kenya, South Africa and Indonesia and amassed a list of around 7,000 bird species. In the 2004 Texas Birding Classic he was part of the winning team, The ConocoPhillips Cranes.

Dick Peake also participated in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) as a student and a teacher. He started teaching Beginning Birding in 2002 and it became so popular that students began to repeat the course and all his classes were always filled. He also taught Shakespeare and Creative Writing for OLLI.

A memorial service is planned at First Presbyterian Church, Galveston, Texas on Saturday, July 12 at 11 am.