Peter H. Behr (May 24, 1915 – March 10, 1997) was a California State Senator and lawyer.

Early life and career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Behr attended primary school in NYC before moving to

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.

where he attended high school. He was a son of Karl Behr, a survivor of the sinking of the RMS ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

''. In 1933 he entered

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, from which he earned a bachelor's degree in 1937. He then attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

from which he graduated in 1940. Behr served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, joining in 1941 and being discharged in 1946. From 1946 to 1968 he had a private law practice in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. His first stint in public service was as a member of the Planning Commission in Mill Valley, California from 1953 to 1956, and as a Mill Valley city councilman from 1956 to 1960.

Political career

Behr went on to serve on the Marin County Board of Supervisors from 1961 to 1970, and was elected as a Republican to two terms in the California State Senate from 1971 to 1978 in a district covering Marin and Sonoma counties. After leaving the Senate he remained active as an

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

activist in California. Although known as an environmentalist, Behr was curiously against rail transit. In 1990 a 1/2-cent sales tax increase was on the ballot in Marin and Sonoma counties to employ double-track electric rail transit between the communities of Cloverdale in Sonoma County and Larkspur in Marin County. Behr condemned this as "the ruination of Marin." The service was later implemented at much greater expense as SMART, starting in 2017. A street adjacent to the

Marin County Civic Center The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wrigh ...

and a scenic overlook at Drakes Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore are named in Behr's honor. The "Lifetime Achievement Award" of the Marin Conservation League and the "Peter Behr Steward of the Land Award" of the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin are named in his honor.

Death

Behr died on March 10, 1997, at Marin General Hospital in

Greenbrae, California Greenbrae is a small unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located south-southeast of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 33 feet (10 m), located adjacent to U.S. Route 101 at the opening of the Ross Valley. Part of ...

, aged 81, after battling

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

for six years.

References

Sources

California candidates bio of BehrUniversity of California, Berkeley run oral history interview with Behr reportInventory of the Peter H. Behr Papers, 1971-1978
1915 births Republican Party California state senators United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey 1997 deaths Yale Law School alumni 20th-century American politicians People from Mill Valley, California Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in California Yale University alumni {{California-CASenate-stub