Alan Peche
A celebration of life for Alan Peche, director of the Barlow Planetarium from 2008 until his death last month, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. July 30 in the Thrivent Lobby of the Communication Arts Center on the Fox Cities campus of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The Communication Art Center is at 1478 Midway Road, Menasha.
A second celebration of life is planned for Aug. 12 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida.
Peche, a Medford native who attended UW-Eau Claire before beginning his career in science education, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February. He spent 35 years working in planetarium operations, the last 13 of which were on the Fox Cities campus. Peche will be remembered as a passionate educator with a love for anything that broadened our view from our little blue and green planet. He also was an advocate for community science outreach and a longtime friend and colleague to many. He died June 12 at his Appleton home. He was 56.
Instead of flowers, the family has asked for support for his last project, renovation of the Barlow Planetarium. Donations can be made to support the planetarium’s NextGen project through the UW-Fox Cities Foundation.
An obituary was published this week by Heart of the Valley Cremation Services. The celebration of life events, held instead of a funeral, were Peche’s wishes. The obituary states: He wanted these to be casual parties to share happy memories with family and friends and his request was for us to carry on without him, he will be there in spirit.
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