Peter deMarsh was a longtime voice for family foresters. Throughout his career, Peter made a lasting impact on the forestry industry on a provincial, national and international level.
Born in Fredericton, Peter maintained his childhood roots in Taymouth and Salmon Beach throughout his life. He graduated as an Ontario Scholar from Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto, and completed an honours BA (economics and political science) at the University of Toronto.
Peter returned to New Brunswick with a vision of contributing to the rural economy. He helped organize one of the first woodlot owner marketing organizations in the province, the North Shore Forestry Products Marketing Board. He taught himself French in order to help facilitate the collaboration of French and English woodlot owners in the province.
Peter was a central figure in the uniting of the New Brunswick Marketing Boards to form the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Producers Association (later the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners). He held positions as manager of the YSC Forest Products Marketing Board and president of the NB Federation of Woodlots Owners.
Throughout his life, Peter continued to further his education. He took political science and forestry courses at UNB and St. Thomas, and went on to complete a Masters of International Development at Carleton University’s Norman Patterson School of International Affairs.
He was instrumental in the founding of Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners and was Board President until his passing. As CFWO President, Peter was an early member of the International Family Forestry Alliance and was IFFA Board President from 2011 until his death. He was on the Steering Committee of the Farm and Forest Facility of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and represented small forest owners at the UN Forum on Forestry.
In addition to family forestry, Peter had many other passions, foremost amongst them being his family, birdwatching, organic gardening, and reading philosophy. He was proud of his organic market garden and was very involved in the New Brunswick chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association. Peter was a founding member and first president of the Taymouth Community Association. He was a trustee of the Taymouth United Church and a member of the Rev. Fran Brown Reiki Centre.
The life of Peter deMarsh was tragically cut short on March 10, 2019, in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Friends and family of Peter have honoured his dedication to his community by establishing the Peter deMarsh Memorial Bursary for Bachelor of Science students on UNB’s Saint John campus.
You may contribute to the Bursary fund by donating online or by mailing a contribution to our offices in Saint John or Fredericton. Thank you for your support.
We encourage you to share this page with family, friends and colleagues who may have known Peter, and to help honour his memory by making a gift in support of the memorial fund at UNB.
Establishing named scholarships, bursaries or other funds is an easy and meaningful way to ensure that you or someone you care about is remembered with a special connection to UNB. Contact us to learn more.
