Peter Livingston

Peter David Livingston, 81, of Spring Green and Madison died

February 23, 2023, at Hebron Hall, Oakwood Village West, from

heart and lung diseases. He tried mightily to rehabilitate himself but

couldn’t. As recently as December, Peter and his wife, Sharon Stark,

celebrated her birthday in the Dominican Republic.

Peter was born January 25, 1942 in Manhattan, New York. He was

raised in the Bronx “casting a shadow on Yankee Stadium,” as he

was fond of saying. By remarkable coincidence, the Bronx street he

lived on was shown on the wallpaper collage at the Subway deli in

Spring Green when he and Sharon moved to that rural community.

Peter was graduated from William Howard Taft High School in

1958, Harvard College (or as he called it, the University of

Wisconsin of the East) in 1962 (BA) and the University of Chicago

in 1965 (MA).

A year later, he volunteered for alternative service. He spent the next

two years with his then wife, Barbara, in Guatemala, organizing and

servicing credit unions as well as developing preschool programs for

the underserved.

Peter returned to the U.S. in 1968 and worked briefly at the New

Jersey Neuropsychiatric Hospital before coming to Madison to work

for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). He eventually

became vice president of research and development, helping create

the credit union checking account and ATM access capabilities.

Peter married Sharon Stark (a credit union colleague) in 1988. By

then, they had started Stark Livingston, Inc. For 30 years, the firm

provided survey research, product planning, strategic planning,

marketing and personal finance services to credit unions nationwide.

In 2000, they moved from Madison to rural Spring Green. They

bought land that once belonged to Sharon’s maternal great

grandparents and grandparents. Together, they designed and built a

prairie-style house, and started restoring their land to native prairies.

The prairies have provided a peace and tranquility for Sharon and

Peter and given homes to native habitat.

Peter was a generous supporter of the UW-Madison, especially the

astronomy department on whose board of visitors he served and

chaired for many years; Madison Symphony Orchestra (donating the

orchestra’s Hamburg piano in honor of his mother); local public

radio and television; and numerous social justice and conservation

nonprofits. For more than 20 years, Peter served on the UW Credit

Union board of directors.

Peter and Sharon shared a love of exploration and adventure,

traveling to all seven continents and countless countries. Peter took

great pride in learning basic language skills for countries visited,

even when it was necessary to learn new alphabets. Other passions

included playing recorder and observing the night skies.

Peter took great joy in family, friends and his Keeshond companions

Mariejke, Tabby, Hudson, Kaatje and Veerle.

Peter is survived by Sharon, his sons Jose (Shannon) and grandson

David; John; Jenny Livingston Lengyel and grandchildren, Sam

(Alicia) and great grandchildren Graham and Nori; and Brianna

Livingston-Lengyel. He is preceded in death by his father David

Livingston and mother Magdalena Friedman.

A celebration of life will be held June 10 at the Fluno Center, 601

University Avenue, on the UW-Madison campus from 2:00 to 4:30.

Memorials can be sent to the UW Astronomy department or the UW

Odyssey Project. Odyssey empowers low-income adults to find their

voices and work toward college degrees.