Peter Damon Baldwin
July8,1937– June30,2021
Ranch er, family man, consummate athlete, and community leader, Peter liked to describe himself first and foremost as “a roper”— com petition in the rodeo arena w as his passion, competing on the mainland professional rodeo circuit int he 1960s. Peter was a fifth generation Baldwin family member and the fourth generation to lead and run Maui’ s iconic Haleakala Ranch. Peter was a member of the Pan io lo Hal of Fame and was an accomplished horseman as we las a savvy and successful business man. The eldest child of Richard“Man duke” Baldwin and Harriet“Ha ku” Baldwin, Peter attended, and graduated from, Corn el University where he led his colegiate team to a national polo title and then played for the U.S. National team in competition in Europe. Peter excel ed at polo throughout his long career, winning prestigious tournament sin California, Texas, and Australia, as we las Ha wai, and he was named U.S. Amateur Polo Player of the Year in 1988. He was a standout base ba land basket b al player in high school, and among his other achievements were being named Al-Around Cowboy at the Mak aw ao Rodeo and winning the Maui Golf Championship four years in a row. Peter was also a participant at the Calgary Stampede rodeo.
Having worked as a ranch hand during school vacations and in his early working life, learning the ranch and dairy business, Peter honed his business acumen and set the stage for continued business growth for Haleakala Ranch. He improved the ranch’ s genetic stock by bringing in Angus and Ge lb vi eh cattle and shrewdly managed some important real estate deals, including the establishment of the Maui Research and Technology Park, Pi’ilaniVilages, and the KiheiSafew ay Shopping Center. His guiding principle in business was :“I hire people who are better than me and know more than I do.”
Peter was heavily involved in the community and served for many years on Boards, including Bank of Ha wai, Ha wa ian Airlines, Maui Land& Pine, and Haleakala Ranch. He served as first President of the U.S. Land Bank’ s H aw a io ff ice, and was a trustee of The Nature Conservancy and many other nonprofit and educational institutions.
Peter’s m any lifelong friends can attestto his caring nature, kindness, generosity, loyalty, and rascaly sense ofhum or; he loved playing pranks w heneverthe opportunity arose. Severalinvolved ingenious disguises; others included riding his horse through Casanova’ s restaurant and Mak aw ao Steakhouse, and encouraging hishorse Blue (pure white, ofcourse)to wanderthrough hishom e during parties, casualygrazing on salad in the kitchen on his way, much to his first wife, G in i’ s, dismay.
When asked about his accomplishments of which he was most proud, among those at the top of his list was founding the Maui Youth Soccer Organization( MY SO) in 1976, which introduced Maui youth to then ascents port( in North America at least) of soccer. Since then, Maui has produced numerous high-level soccer players, and what makes this accomplish mental the more extraordinary is that Peter never played the game himself and knew very little except that it was as port of the future in the U.S. and required minimal expense and equipment. His Haleakala Dairy sponsored al the equipment in the inaugural season and 600 youngsters participated in the first year. Peter was devoted to his family, and in his later years, Peter found true peace and happiness with his wife Susie. Peter’ s eyes would light up whenever a conversation turned to family. Makalapua Waring, the wife of Peter’ s right-hand man at Haleakala Dairy, Dick Waring, sums Peter up best :“Peter treats everyone the same way. He’ s been one of the good guys–he’ s done so much for so many for so long.”
Peter is survived by his wife Susie, his brother Ben and sister Katie( Ac ha val ), his three sons, Jeff, Duke and Chris, eight grandchildren and a great grand daughter. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations are made to Hospice Maui, to whose staff the family wil always be grateful as they provided such care and compassion during Peter’ s transition.
A Celebration of Life wil be held for family, friends, and those who knew Peterwel. The event wil be held on Saturday, July 17 that the Haleakala Ranch“Race track” pasture in Mak aw ao from 4.00 to 7.00pm.