Peter G. Sparks

Peter Grant Sparks of Wilmington, DE, passed away peacefully at home on March 16, 2022, at the age of 85. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Peter was the son of Lillian Mae Semmler and Grant Sparks, Jr. He attended Frankford High School and went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1968 in physical chemistry. He did postdoctoral work as a research fellow in applied physics at Cornell University.

In 1969 Dr. Sparks joined the faculty of the University of Delaware, where he taught art conservation and chemistry. In 1974 he became the first director of the joint University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum graduate program in Art Conservation, helping to shape its curriculum and guiding it through its first six years. In 1981 he moved to Washington, D.C., to become Director of Preservation at the Library of Congress. There he coordinated library-wide activities relating to conservation of all library books and materials, microfilming, binding, research and testing, and managing the National Preservation Program. In 1989 he returned to the Philadelphia area to work with the Preservation Services Office of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts as a consultant to university libraries, museums, archives and historical societies.

In 2000 Dr. Sparks moved to Arizona, settling in the town of Carefree north of Scottsdale, where he taught chemistry labs for several years at Arizona State University. In 2012 he returned east to settle in Wilmington. A veteran of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dr. Sparks was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Penn, the American Institute of Conservation, and the International Institute of Conservation. He was a past president of the board of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts and a past editor of the Journal of the American Institute of Conservation.

In his private life Peter was an avid collector of period furniture and artifacts, antique toasters and waffle makers, miniature steam engines, model trains, woodworking tools, and art glass. With his family he cruised and anchored out all over the Chesapeake Bay in his 37’ Egg Harbor wooden boat, the Nest Egg. He restored and toured brass-era antique automobiles, most especially a 1909 Buick Model F Touring car and a 1912 Ford Torpedo Roadster, and he drove them fearlessly around the Pennsylvania and New England countrysides, crawling underneath when necessary to make repairs. Eventually he fell in love with the Tesla Model S and Model Y — the styling, the engineering, and the endlessly dramatic news.

Peter is survived by his wife of 32 years, Margaret Holley of Wilmington, DE; his former wife Bonnie Murray (Kenny) of Wilmington; his daughter Catherine Sparks (Robert Lukens) of West Grove, PA, and grandson Taylor Lukens; his son Gavin Sparks (Cara) of Middletown, DE, grandchildren Joshua, Richard, and Lillian Sparks, and step-grandchildren Branden, Allison (Adam Davis), and Ryan Merritt; and step-great-grandson Asher Davis; nieces Amy Sagan (Matt) and Beverly Sharples, and grandniece Danielle DiMattia. Peter was preceded in death by his younger sister Susan Crocheron of Pennsauken, NJ.

The funeral service will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Penn Fund at the University of Pennsylvania, Office of the Treasurer, PO Box 71332, Philadelphia, PA 19176-9913, or to Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, 5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware 19735.