Peter B. Pinkerton; Music Educator

Peter B. Pinkerton, a longtime Ventura County music educator and band director who was called “Mr. Music” by many of his students, died at his Ventura home Tuesday of liver cancer. He was 76.

At the time he retired in 1982, Pinkerton was the assistant superintendent of instruction and personnel for the county superintendent of schools.

“His life was like ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus,’ ” said his wife, Wanda.

Born in Indianapolis in 1920, Pinkerton moved with his parents to Ventura in 1935. He attended Ventura High School and was president of the Ventura College student body.

Through a music scholarship and a Ventura dance band he formed called “Pete’s Pirates,” he worked his way through College of the Pacific in Stockton.

World War II and a stint in the Air Force interrupted his education, but in 1946 he returned to Stockton, earning a master’s degree in music in 1947. About 20 years later he received a doctorate in education from USC.

Pinkerton met and married his wife of 43 years during his first teaching job in Patterson, near Modesto, and moved with her back to Ventura in 1954.

He taught music, orchestra, choral and humanities courses at both Ventura and Buena high schools. He was the dean of boys at both schools before becoming a county schools administrator.

Only weeks before his death, Pinkerton learned he had won the prestigious Ferd Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service award from the Assn. of California School Administrators.

“The accolade goes to one Californian each year who has made a significant contribution to public education,” said Jerry Dannenberg, assistant superintendent for human resources at Ventura Unified School District. The award was brought to Pinkerton’s hospital bedside.

A member of many associations, including the Red Cross, Retired Business and Professional Men’s Club, the Ventura Dance Club and Church of the Foothills, Pinkerton also remained active in retirement by editing the Assn. of California School Administrators’ newsletter, which he did for 25 years.

In addition to his wife, Pinkerton is survived by his sons Gregory of Ventura, Peter of Boulder Creek, Steven of Utah; daughter Kathryn Hocamp, also of Ventura; and six grandchildren.

The family asks that memorial contributions go to the Foothill Fund at Church of the Foothills, the American Heart Assn. or the American Cancer Society.