Life Story for
Peter H. Flood
Peter Hidalgo Flood, a loving husband, father and grandfather, an avid hunter and fisherman, a US Army veteran, a retired pilot, and a 45-year Ketchum resident, passed away peacefully on March 8 surrounded by his family. He was born on May 13, 1936 in San Francisco the son of Laura Hidalgo de Viosca and Dr. Randolph Gove Flood.
He is a fourth generation San Franciscan. His great grandfather came to San Francisco in 1852 from Ireland. Peter has a background of sea captains who sailed from Maine to San Francisco and the China Trade. Peter knew the San Francisco Bay well. He is also a member of the Mayflower Society.
As a young man, Peter took flying lessons at the age of 10 years old and eventually earned his pilots license. Later in his 20s, he was a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol on weekends. He was an avid outdoors man and a member of the Olympic Club for over 50 years.
Peter went to Grant Elementary School, played football and swam at Lowell High School and was a Phi Delta Theta at Stanford University. After graduating from Stanford in 1958 with a Biology degree, Peter joined the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer, serving as a Lieutenant at Fort Mason, California where he was the manager of the Officers Club, which inspired him to go to Cornell University Hotel School.
While working as the assistant manager of the St. Francis hotel, he met Deborah Sharpe on a ski trip in Aspen. They married in San Francisco in 1966. During his tenure with Western International Hotels, Peter worked in Peru doing a feasibility study of building hotels throughout South America, managed the Carefree Inn and the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.
However, Peter and Debbie’s hearts were always in the mountains, hiking, biking, hunting, and alpine skiing. They moved to Ketchum, Idaho with their daughter Heather in 1970 where he managed the Calico Inn. Peter later owned and operated a landscaping business in Ketchum. During his time in Ketchum, Peter served on the Blaine County School Board, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Board, and the Board of the Ketchum Cemetery. Peter was an active member of the Ketchum American Legion.
Peter led his family on many adventures: camping in the Sawtooths, hunting in California and Idaho, trips in the motor home, alpine skiing and racing, participating in the inaugural Boulder Mountain Tour, water skiing, biking the Sawtooth Century, scuba diving, wind surfing, and spending an entire winter in Kitzbuhl, Austria.
It is without a doubt that Peter’s proudest and biggest mark in life was his success in raising and nurturing a family. Peter and Debbie have three children, Heather, Laura Sharpe Flood, and Randolph. Over the years Peter enjoyed watching his children and grand children’s school events, sporting events and endeavors. Peter is survived by his loving wife of 49 years Debbie Sharpe Flood, his daughter, Heather Flood Dave's, her husband Art, and their three children Ethan, Alex and Laura; and Randolph Hidalgo Flood, his wife Ari's and their two children Huxley and Corbin. Peter is also survived by his first cousin once-removed Paul Flood of Castro Valley, CA. Peter is preceded in death by his second child Laura Sharpe Flood, and his parents Dr. Randolph Flood and Laura Hidalgo Viosca Flood.
A service for Peter will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 4p.m. The family requests that memorial gifts be designated to Hospice & Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley or to Cardiac Amyloidoses Research at Mayo Clinic. Gifts can be mailed directly to Mayo Clinic, Department of Development, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905.