Many here will have known Tuck. Click the image below to see his obituary.
Seattle, WA — Peter Tuckerman Esty Jr., of Seattle and Port Townsend, WA, formerly of Deerfield and Wareham, MA, passed away on April 8, 2023, leaving his life partner, Anne Krier. Predeceased by his father, Peter T. Esty, he additionally leaves his mother, Athalia (Happy) Barker Esty, of Andover, MA, his brother Jay and his wife Susan, also of Andover, and his sister Leila and her husband Peter Poutiatine, of Tetonia, ID. He was “Uncle Duck” to Charlotte and Athalia Esty, of Boston and Andover, Cameron Poutiatine of Kelly, WY and Isabella and Natasha Poutiatine of Tetonia, ID. He also leaves a slew of Esty and Barker aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins-in-law, as well as a vast community of wonderful friends in Seattle, along the Pacific Northwest coast, and across the country. His charm and magnetic personality made him an instant friend to all who knew him.
Born August 24, 1966, Tuck grew up primarily in Deerfield, MA, and attended Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy before moving to Brooklyn, NY, and graduating from Poly Prep Country Day School in 1985. He graduated from Middlebury College as a Fine Arts major. After a youth during which Tuck thrived most outdoors and unfettered from indoor trappings, he channeled his creativity and need for fresh and especially ocean air into a long career as a master woodworker on boats, which evolved into his all-inclusive boat improvement and maintenance venture, Yachtopia, based in Seattle. Over decades, Tuck became a venerable member of the live-aboard community, calling first his 35′ Alberg yawl Annie, then his Cheoy Lee Offshore 50, Orient Star home. His was truly a life of messing about in boats. Indeed, his only foray into terrestrial domesticity came in a cabin he bought three years ago 200′ atop a sea cliff in Port Townsend overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where he and untold numbers of home improvement recruits communed with orcas and bald eagles.
All will miss Tuck’s infectious humor and silliness, his enthusiastic invitations to newcomers to learn skiing or sailing or carpentry, his inimitable skills as a mimic, and his constant record of dropping whatever he’s doing to help someone in need. There will be celebrations of Tuck’s life in Seattle in late June and in Wareham in early August. Donations in Tuck’s name may be made to fund equitable access to the sea via the Young Mariner’s Initiative and other youth maritime programming at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, WA.