Peter Michael Gish

1926 - 2024

Providence, RI – Peter Michael Gish, age 98, died on March 3, 2024. Mike was born on March 2, 1926, in New York City to Carl K. Gish and Helen Baldwin Gish. Mike grew up in Westport, CT and attended Staples High School.

Mike joined the ROTC in 1943 and matriculated to Dartmouth College. in 1944, after learning his older brother, USMC PFC Carl K. Gish II (“Jim”) had been killed in action on Saipan, Mike left Dartmouth to complete his aviation training with the Navy (USMC). Too young to see combat in WWII, Mike retired from the Marines as a naval pilot in 1946 to complete his education and received an AB in Fine Art from Dartmouth College in 1949. Indelibly affected by the death of his brother, Mike decided to pursue art and the military as a career. He continued his art education at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France in 1951 as a visiting student. Mike eventually received a Master's in Fine Art from Yale University in 1964.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Mike had the opportunity to work with the New England artist Paul Sample, who was artist in residence at Dartmouth during Mike's years there, as well as the well-known Austrian painter, Oskar Kokoschka. Both artists became important mentors to Mike in the development of his own painting style.

After his studies at Yale, Mike returned to active duty with the US Marine Corps, initially as a helicopter pilot, advancing to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1967, Mike was sent to Vietnam by the USMC as a “combat artist,” joining a long tradition of documenting war through art. While in Vietnam, Mike also received the Air Medal for flying 24 combat missions. One of Mike's paintings, Studies of Helmets in the Sand, was chosen to be the poster for the National Vietnam Memorial. In 1991, at the age of 65, Mike became a full Colonel in the Marines when he deployed to Iraq, as a combat artist, for Operation “Provide Comfort” where he documented the Kurdish refugees from the First Gulf War. Then again, in 1993, Mike journeyed to Somalia where he continued his documentation of refugees and displaced people during Operation “Restore Hope”. Many of Mike's paintings have been displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Washington, DC, as well as the Smithsonian Museum.

A large part of Mike's work reflects his love of still life and landscapes, particularly New England and his beloved Block Island, RI. Mike's artwork has been displayed in many galleries and exhibitions, as well as several private collections. A prolific painter who continued to work well into his 90s, Mike was also a full Professor of Art at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT, retiring from his academic duties in 1990.

Mike is predeceased by his wife, Marguerite (Drouin) and is survived by his three children, Charlotte Wall (Steve Wall), Southport, NC; Peter A. Gish (Robin Kaiser), Hanover, NH; and Carl K. Gish III (Elizabeth Gish), Palo Alto, CA. He is also survived by 7 grandchildren, Carla and Stephanie Wall, Sophia, Miranda and Olivia Gish, and Peter and Henry Gish, as well as his partner of many years, Marilyn Bogdanffy.

A memorial service will be held at the Coolidge Hotel, White River Junction, Vermont at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 2024. Another ceremony will be held on Block Island this fall. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the US Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. https://www.marineheritage.org/makedonation. html