Peter O. Willauer, “POW”, loving husband of Carol (Nugent) Willauer, passed away peacefully on November 6, 2025, at his home in Falmouth. He was 90 years old.

Peter was a visionary educator and pioneer in the field of outdoor education who became a transformative figure in the Outward Bound movement and his influence will continue to shape the lives of young people for years to come. 

Born on November 24, 1934, the eldest child of Arthur Osborne Willauer (1908-1978) and Alice Lowell Homer (1909-1993), Peter graduated from the Noble and Greenough School and Princeton University before marrying Elizabeth “Betty” Chittenden Isom in 1956. An accomplished sailor and navigator, he competed in the Sears Cup National Junior Sailing Championships and the U.S. Olympic 5.5 Meter Trials before serving as a Sailing Officer at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Peter especially enjoyed sailing with his family along the New England Coast, and he competed in many Bermuda Races.

In 1963, Peter founded the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School (HIOBS) in Penobscot Bay, Maine, inspired by Kurt Hahn, founder of the first Outward Bound School.

Hahn believed that true education pushes young people toward formative experiences rooted in perseverance, humility and compassion, values that would come to define Peter’s life’s work. He later went on to establish the Chesapeake Baltimore Outward Bound School and the Cathleen Stone Outward Bound School. 

In 1994, he founded the Willauer School on Thompson Island in Boston and operated it for 12 years. Returning to Hurricane Island with his wife Carol in 2009, he became the Founding Trustee of the Hurricane Island Center for Science & Leadership, which integrates science education and applied research to develop leaders prepared to address environmental issues in a rapidly changing world.

In his retirement, Peter sailed extensively throughout the world with his wife, Carol, aboard his J42 Sloop Eight Bells, logging over 80,000 miles. 

Peter was preceded in death by his first wife Betty. He is survived by his second wife, Carol, his brother W. Bradford Willauer and wife, Ann, of Prouts Neck; sons Charles S. Willauer and wife, Gale, of Edgecomb; David O. Willauer and wife, Cathleen, of Annapolis, MD; P. Langley Willauer and his partner Dana Rae Warren, of Hope; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 Spring Street, Portland, ME at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 22, 2025, followed by a reception at the Portland Yacht Services.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Peter O. Willauer Fund for Hurricane’s Future.

Donations can be made online, or checks can be made payable to the “Hurricane Island Foundation” and mailed to: Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, P.O. Box 1280, Rockland, ME 04841.