Peter Goutiere

Peter Goutiere
Goutiere on his 106th birthday in 2020
Birth:	28 September 1914 Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Death:	22 January 2023 Katonah, New York, USA
Age:	108 years, 116 days
Country:	INDUSA
Centenarian

Peter "Pete" Joffre Goutiere (28 September 1914 – 22 January 2023) was an Indian-born American centenarian. He was one of only two CNAC pilots still alive at the time of his death, the other being Moon Fun Chin.

Biography

Early Life

Peter Goutiere was born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India on 28 September 1914. His parents were British immigrants George Goutiere and Alicia (née Whipple) Goutiere.

His father was a superintendent of police in an area outside New Delhi. At age 14, after the death of his father, Goutiere moved with his mother and his sister to Bangor, following his other sister Christine Weston (1904–1989), who moved to Maine after marrying a Bangor businessman. She became a successful author.

He graduated from Brewer High School in his early 20s, after dropping out for a few years. He married with his former English teacher Helen Brimmer in Maine, USA on 26 August 1939. The couple had one children: David. Later, the couple divorced.

In 1939, he enrolled at the University of Maine and became an American citizen.

Goutiere signed up through the Civilian Pilot Training Program and began training in Bangor. His first training flight was in 1939.

From 1943 until 1947, Goutiere was one of the American pilots for China National Aviation Corporation (owned in part by Pan American World Airways) who was helping to bring into China, troops, food, fuel and other supplies after Japan severed China’s only land supply routes through Burma.

In the 1940s, he married for a second time, but later divorced. At that point, he became the personal pilot and friend for Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Goutiere worked transporting pilgrims by plane to the Hajj in Mecca.

In the 1950s, Goutiere moved to Jordan at the request of Hussein bin Talal. Goutiere helped Hussein get certified on the Boeing 707.

Later Life and Death

He worked in Beirut for six years before moving on to become a pilot for an airline in Ghana. In 1962, Goutiere returned to the United States and began working for the FAA.

In 1973, he moved to work in Lebanon, but the Lebanese Civil War forced him to leave with only the clothes on his back in November 1975. Later, he was transferred to FAA New York, where he worked until his retirement.

He married for a third time with Evelyn (born 11 January 1950) around 1987. The couple had two children: Christian and Hannah.

In 1994, he published a book called Himalayan Rogue. He had at least one grandson: Miles Soboleski.

Until his death, he was one of only two CNAC pilots still alive, the other is Moon Fun Chin (born 20 March 1913). The two men remained in touch and are featured in China’s Wings, Gregory Crouch’s book on this piece of World War 2 and aviation history.

Peter Goutiere died in Katonah, New York, USA, on 22 January 2023 at the age of 108 years 116 days

Gallery

Goutiere as a young man

Goutiere in 1942

Goutiere with his CNAC uniform in New York in 1944

Goutiere and Bert Coulson (1917–1959)

Goutiere and Charles Sharkey (c.1921–1947)

Goutiere and Jules Watson (1917–2001) in Tucson, Arizona in January 1970

Goutiere in 1994

Dick Rossi (1915–2008), Fletcher Hanks (1917–2008), Moon Fun Chin, Carey Bowles (1921–2011), Bill Maher (1919–2011) and Pete Goutiere in 2002

Goutiere with his wife Evelyn in Burlingame, California in 2005

Peter Goutiere, Moon Fun Chin, Lu Yuan-bin, Bill Maher (1919–2011) and Bing Zhou (1920–2007) in 2005

Goutiere (aged 99) in San Francisco in September 2014

Goutiere (aged 99) and Moon Fun Chin (aged 102) in San Francisco in September 2014

Goutiere on a plane in 2015

Goutiere with his wife Evelyn

References

• Peter Joffre Goutiere FamilySearch
• Christine Weston, 85, Author of Novels and Stories New York Times, 6 May 1989
• Christine Goutiere Weston Find A Grave
• Geraldine de M. (Goutiere) Acomb Obituary Andy's Web Tools
• Geraldine De M. Acomb Find A Grave
• High-flying adventurer writes book on derring-do Tampa Bay Times, 4 October 2005
• The story of Ship 100: WWII pilot, 99, reunited with historic C-47 plane CNN, 9 September 2014
• Centenarian, former pilot returns to Bangor area where he learned to fly Bangor Daily News, 6 October 2014
• Christine Negroni » Old and Bold, WW2 Hump Pilot Turns 106 Christine Negroni, 28 September 2020
• Captain Peter J. Goutiere CNAC, 9 October 2020
• Three pilots and a century of flight AOPA, 5 August 2021
• Pan Am Museum is still not sure exactly all of Captain Peter J. Goutiere duties and accomplishments, and at 107 years old today Pan Am Museum Foundation, Inc. (Facebook), 28 September 2021
• Peter J. Goutiere Obituary Clark Associates Funeral Home, January 2023