Obituary for Dr. Peter R. Strutt
Dr. Peter R. Strutt, 94, of Storrs, Connecticut, husband of the late Anne (MacGregor) Strutt, passed away Monday April 10, 2023. He was the son of the late Percy and Nellie (Parsonage) Strutt.
Born on October 11, 1928 in Whitby, England, Peter led a happy childhood, living with his tightknit family mostly in the town of Northampton. He learned to play the piano and becoming riveted to a BBC series on classical music — helping spawn a lifelong love of music.
Peter’s mother was a seamstress and his father was a grocer —both doting parents. He was the first in his family to go to college. He received his bachelors from the University of London in physics and mathematics. He then went on to earn his Masters and Ph.D. in Metallurgy from the University of Melbourne in Australia.
As part of his Ph.D. studies, Peter spent time as a Visiting Research Associate at Franklin Institute Laboratories in Philadelphia. It was in Philly, where he met a young woman named Anne. She was kind, funny and also a Brit. The two fell in love and after four months they became engaged; they spent the rest of their lives happily married. After a wedding in Wales, they moved to Australia, where their first child, Hannah, was born. A few years later they moved to Wisconsin, where their second child, Rachel, was born and where Peter worked as a professor at the University of Wisconsin. Eventually, Peter and his family landed in Storrs, Connecticut, where Peter became a professor of Metallurgy in the Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut.
Dr. Strutt was an accomplished scientist with over 145 scientific publications and numerous patents to his name. Early on he was a world expert on high temperature creep and cyclic deformation of metals. More recently he was a pioneer in nanomaterials with a focus on nanocomposites. His last patent, in 2015, was entitled “Method for making electrode assembly for a solid oxide fuel cell.” Dr. Strutt always found a thrill in finding practical applications for his research and inventions. While Director of Nanoprecision Manufacturing at the Precision Manufacturing Center (PMC) at UCONN, he established prototypical industrial-scale facilities to thermally spray nanostructured coating including wear-resistant tungsten carbide-cobalt. This technology is now used to coat large components including rollers in a steel mills. Another PMC innovation, further developed by a later business he pioneered called Inframat, are nanocoatings for submarines, aircraft carriers and minesweepers.
Yet Peter had many other passions beyond science, including history, classical music, travel, visiting gardens and museums, and projects in the house and garden, which he and his wife happily carried out together for decades. Anne would do the gardening and Peter, ever the materials man, worked with stone, creating beautiful stonewalls around the property.
He was endlessly kind, had boundless intellectual curiosity, and an enthusiasm for life that was infectious. He loved good conversation and had a wry way of looking at life, making people laugh until the very end. Peter was a devoted husband and son, and a tremendous father. He will be missed by many, including his friends and the wonderful circle of home health aides and visiting care experts who kept him happily at home during his final years.
He is survived by his daughters, Hannah Strutt, Rachel Strutt, of Somerville, MA, his brother-in-law Malcolm MacGregor, of Stirling, Scotland, and a cat named Pilaf.
Funeral services will be held Saturday April 15, at 2PM at St. Mark’s Episcopal Chapel 42 N. Eagleville Rd, Storrs. Burial will follow in HillsideCemetery Spring Hill Rd, Storrs. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saint Marks Chapel, 42N Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06268 or a charity of your choice. Another option is the UCONN Engineering Scholarship Fund: www.foundation.uconn.edu
To send an online expression of sympathy, please visit www.baconfh.com
To plant a tree in memory of Dr. Peter R. Strutt, visit the Tribute Store.
Previous Events
Service
Saturday
15
Apr
2:00 PM
- 3:00 PM
St. Mark's Episcopal Chapel
42 N. Eagleville Rd
Storrs, CT 06269
Cemetery Details
Location
Hillside Cemetery
Spring Hill Rd
Sorrs, CT 06268
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