Pete Loeser with Whitney Smith NAVA 44 2010 Los Angeles
Marcus Schmöger, Bruce Berry, and Pete Banquet Night - IVC 24 2011 Washington DC
Opens NAVA 50 (2016) San Jose, California |
Pete Loeser - Morgan Hill, California, USA
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Pete´s Personal Flag Loeser Family Flag |
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FOTW Editors Flag |
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Vexillologist of the Year 2012 |
I was born in Oakland, California in 1944. I received my higher education at the University of California in San Jose, and the University of California in Hayward. I served in the United States Army as an Armor officer both in Fort Knox, Kentucky and in Vietnam. After the military I spent the next 32 years teaching high school in Northern California, first in Laytonville and then Willits. I retired in 2003 after working with multiple generations of students.
After retirement I began an educational consulting service specialized in teaching instructors of history and social sciences to better utilize technology in the classroom. I also designed and still maintain several websites for businesses and educational organizations.
I developed an interest in flags after retirement while working with a group of teachers in the "Teaching American History" Institute, where I developed history lessons based on using flags in the classroom, and started my website "Historic Flags of Our Ancestors" to support these units in 2004. It has grown to have information on over 4000 historical flags, all written with the history student in mind, thanks to the support and help of our vexillological community.
In 2009, I was made the UFE (Unidentified Flag & Ensign) Editor for Flags of the World, and was active in that position for 13 years until I stepped down in 2022. I am also a member of the Flag Institute and of the North American Vexillological Association.
In 2014, in New Orleans (NAVA 48) I was honored to be named chair of an extremely talented committee of vexillologist, including Peter Ansoff, Jim Ferrigan, Ted Kaye, and Bill Trinkle, to organize the 50th Annual meeting of the NAVA in San Jose. A truly rewarding and instructive experience.
I have continued contributing my time to both FOTW and NAVA, mainly as website editor and occasional contributor. Perhaps the most rewarding thing about both of these organizations are the like-minded friends I have met and worked with, they truly are a wonderful group of people.
Currently I provide NAVA with short monthly Vexibits articles plus archiving their past meetings. I continue to act as a "roving editor" for FOTW, which translates as "I get to pick whatever project I want." It's a nice place to be in.
During all this my wife Marianne (also a retired history teacher) and I have managed to successfully raise four children, and have been rewarded with nine talented grandchildren. We still enjoy traveling and continue to learn.
Pete Loeser, 28 April 2023
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