"Pete, a retired professor of geography at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, was president of the New Jersey Exonumia Society (which became the Northeast Token and Medal Society) from 2006 until it disbanded in 2012. He passed away on March 24 of last year. He lived in Martinsville, Bridgewater Township, Somerset County, N. J.

"His academic focus was historical geography – land use patterns developed over time by settlers and cultural groups – particularly those occurring in his native New Jersey, In addition to his research and writing in this field, Pete served the state in several capacities. He was a 40 year member of the New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites and was on the editorial boards of New Jersey History, published by the New Jersey Historical Society, and the Journal of Cultural Geography. In 2001 he received the New Jersey Historical Commission's highest honor, the Richard J. Hughes Award.

"Pete's keen interest in history prompted him to provide an extensive set of NJES's newsletter Jerseyana to the Rutgers University Special Collections, where it may be consulted by persons seeking information about local history relating to exonumia. A set is also available on the Newman Numismatic Portal."

Rutgers University Professor Emeritus Peter O. Wacker of Martinsville passed away on March 24, 2020 at the age of 83. Services were private. Condolences can be posted on the website of the Bruce C. VanArsdale Funeral Home, Somerville

The son of immigrants, Peter grew up in Irvington, graduated from Montclair State College, and earned his PhD from Louisiana State University. Generous with his time for students and the public, Peter thought it was important for people to understand not only world geography but also their own local geography, history and culture.Peter possessed a boundless curiosity about the world, most of which he had visited. He loved travel, fishing, gardening, and a good joke.

The dissertation he wrote Forest, Forge, and Farm became The Musconetcong Valley of New Jersey: A Historical Geography (Rutgers University Press, 1968). His Land and People: A Cultural Geography of Preindustrial New Jersey: Origins and Settlement Patterns (Rutgers University Press, 1975) is still cited by scholars for the insights it provides on how settlers origins influenced the way land was used, what crops were planted, fences and barns constructed. Land Use in Early New Jersey, with Paul Clemens, (New Jersey Historical Society, 1995) used framers diaries, and early account books, to chart and map what was produced and where.

Wacker worked with historian Maxine N. Lurie and Rutgers cartographer Michael Siegel to edit Mapping New Jersey: An Evolving Landscape (Rutgers University Press, 2009). The book used historic maps and newly designed ones to explain the changing history of the state. In addition he contributed chapters in books, such as the Swedish Settlement in Southern New Jersey, in Carol Hoffecker, ed. New Sweden (University of Delaware Press, 1995), as well as articles in New Jersey History and other journals. He also served on the editorial boards of New Jersey History, the Journal of Cultural Geography, and was a member of numerous academic organizations.

Wacker received a number of awards over the course of his career including a Guggenheim Fellowship, repeated research grants from the Rutgers Research Council and the New Jersey Historical Commission. He also was presented with the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance's College Teacher of the Year Award (2000), and the New Jersey Historical Commission's Richard J. Hughes Award (2001) the highest one it gives.

To read the complete obituary, see:
Peter O. Wacker (https://geography.rutgers.edu/people/in-memorium/details/835-peter-o-wacker)

To read JERSEYana on the Newman Portal, see:
JERSEYana (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/514335)

PETER OSCAR WACKER (1936-2020)