Peter Laskaris, a long-time member of Honest Weight, died on Saturday, December 6. He was only 55, but he had been in declining health for several years.

Peter joined the Coop in the 1970s, and was very dedicated to the organization and to the people he knew through Honest Weight. Peter held virtually every job that one could hold at the Coop. Over the years he cashiered, swept the floors, stocked, and was a Saturday supervisor at the old store. In the last few years, Peter’s health problems limited what he could do, but he was able to do less physically demanding jobs like outreach and cashiering. He was also involved with the Strategic Planning committee, and attended our strategic planning retreat this past September.

Peter was a talented artist who worked with stained glass. He was also willing to work with more mundane glass when the need arose, and he was always the person we called on to fix broken glass around the store. Peter twice lent us his scaffolding so that we could paint the exterior of the store. Peter also was the person who led the effort to rehab our old building at 112 Quail Street, and he was instrumental in negotiating its sale as well. Peter was a licensed realtor.

Peter lived modestly in a house on Dove Street in Albany that he affectionately referred to as his "toolbox." The house was largely gutted and turned into a workshop, but it did have living space for Peter upstairs. He often joked that his house was historically the most authentic on the block "because it was the only one that still had the original paint job."