Memorial service will be held Friday, Nov. 16, at 11:30 am at W & M.
Beloved fencing coach dies, three students injured in accident
News · W&M News · Staff stories · Conomikes dies in accident
Author: Staff, Source: W&M News
Date: Nov 12, 2007
The William and Mary community is mourning the loss of venerable Fencing Club Coach Peter S. “Pete” Conomikes, who died Saturday afternoon in a single-car accident that also injured three students.
Conomikes, who has coached at the College since 1972, was traveling with members of the club fencing team to Haverford, Penn., to compete in a Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association team event when the accident occurred around 1 p.m. on Interstate 295 near Richmond. Three members of the fencing club were traveling with Conomikes and also were injured, Vice President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler said in a note to the College community Sunday afternoon. Students Spencer Butts and Ben Gutenberg remain hospitalized at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (Medical College of Virginia) and are in critical but stable condition, Sadler said. The third student, Matt Peppe, was treated and released from the hospital, he added.
“We are extending care, both in Richmond and here on campus, to the members of the Fencing Club and to the families of our injured students,” said Sadler in his message. “I know you will want to provide support for them and to remember Mr. Conomikes in your own way. The sense of community we share at William and Mary is a remarkable source of strength and healing.”
Conomikes began his fencing career at Columbia University in 1940. During much of a long career, he was an A - rated fencer in his specialty, epee. At one point, he was A - rated on all three of the weapons used in the sport.
Conomikes joined the coaching staff of the College in 1972, when fencing was a varsity sport, and served as head coach until 1995 when the sport became a club. He continued coaching the club and teaching a beginning fencing class until the accident.
A statement on the William and Mary Fencing Team’s Web site said: “We mourn the loss of our coach and are hopeful that our teammates will make a complete recovery. Pete has been an amazing influence on so many in the fencing community. We ask that you keep those involved in the crash and their families in your thoughts and prayers over the next several days.”
Conomikes reputation and influence extended far beyond the campus and earned him many honors and awards, said Sadler. Additionally, many of the fencers he coached at the College continued in competition. His work has helped preserve competitive fencing through his support of the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association.
“He will be missed by all who knew him,” said Sadler. “Because of his efforts and dedication he leaves a proud legacy of excellence in fencing at William and Mary and more importantly gratitude, deep affection and respect in the hearts of all those whom he has taught and coached.”
Sadler added, “The students in the Fencing Club join me in asking that you keep their injured teammates (and their families) in your thoughts and prayers as well as the wife, family members, and friends of their beloved coach, Pete Conomikes.
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