Passing of well-known Topsail resident Peter Shapter marked at CBS council
By Craig Westcott
Peter Shapter was many things – a respected engineer, amateur historian and geologist, and former top notch hockey player, but the Topsail native was remembered at CBS council last week as an avid watcher of all things municipal in the town.
Shapter died April 11 at the age of 69 and his absence at the regular public council meeting did not go unremarked.
“I want to take a moment this evening to pass along condolences to the family of the late Peter Shapter,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier. “Peter wasn’t a person with a big personality and he probably wasn’t well known around town, but we knew him well. He was a regular visitor here to the council chambers. He was concerned, basically, with how our town was run. We could call him a critic, but too often calling someone a critic is meant to be negative. That wasn’t the case with Peter at all. Peter was a critic, but he was a critic in terms of offering suggestions and being positive and making sure that things were going well, particularly down in Topsail. We need people like that around town. They make us better councillors in the end, and I just want to pass along condolences to the Shapter family.”
Mayor Darrin Bent echoed those sentiments, recalling how he was a familiar figure bicycling to the Town Hall to attend the council meetings.
“Peter was one of the regulars who used to keep a close eye on council and offer all kinds of what I would consider friendly advice,” said the mayor. “And also a good history lesson every now and again. He was an amateur geologist, and he offered us a lot of information regarding the geology of Topsail Beach and we even have some storyboards down there based on some of the things that happened down there in the history of that area based on what Peter sent to us. So, I was very sad to learn of Peter’s passing… I’ll miss seeing him and I’ll miss hearing from him. The last e-mail I received from Peter was only seven or eight weeks ago. It was something to do with the town because he as so keenly interested and concerned about his town. So, condolences to his wife and stepdaughter and all the Shapter family on behalf of council.”
Shapter’s obituary on the Hickey’s Funeral Home website summarized his life well.
After graduating from Queen Elizabeth Regional High in 1973, Shapter received scholarships and went on to graduate second in his class in Memorial University’s engineering program. He rowed in the Royal St. John’s Regatta, played varsity hockey with the Memorial Beothucks, junior hockey with the Windsor Trojans and the St. John’s Junior Capitals, and in the CBS Senior League played for teams representing Upper Gullies, Chamberlains and Paradise. In addition to keeping tabs on council, researching the history of Topsail, and devouring books, Shapter spent the last couple of years boondocking with his wife in their 1987 campervan.
Shapter is survived by his wife Jean Butler and her daughter Kate.
