Peter D. Badame, a civic force in Port Townsend since 1978, perhaps best known for launching Jefferson Transit and serving as its first General Manager, passed away at home July 17, 2024.
Together with his wife, Monica Macguire, Badame was a steady proponent of progressive causes and an optimist about the good things local government and the community could do. With an irreverent sense of humor, thick eyebrows, signature mustache, and an unmistakably sonorous voice, the people of any room into which he walked gravitated toward him.
He was an effective community builder from the day he arrived in Port Townsend until his death at home, in the company of family, at age 76.
Badame was born on March 11, 1948 in Buffalo, NY. His parents were Anna Theresa “Honey” Simone Badame and Peter Thomas Badame.
Badame’s early life was on the East Coast. He was raised Catholic in a household made up entirely of strong Italian women – his mother, his aunt Maria Assunta “Aunt Sue” Simone, older sister Anna Marie (m. Conrad Frandsen), and maternal grandmother Maria Giuseppa DiNardo Simone. Peter graduated from the all-boys Bishop Timon High School.
He received an undergraduate degree from Canisius College in Buffalo in 1969 where he had put himself through school working in a steel mill. After graduation, he served with the anti-poverty program VISTA before earning a masters’ degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1973. He taught developmentally disabled children in Tonawanda and West Seneca, NY, from 1971 to 1976, then became a project coordinator for the Linwood-Oxford Association, a non-profit devoted to the preservation of a neighborhood of Buffalo’s historic homes.
In the late 1970s Badame told his partner Monica Macguire that, after one too many blizzards, he was moving from Buffalo to the Northwest – a place he called the best-kept secret. He landed a job as a planner for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging in Montesano, Wash., where Monica and daughter Clare joined him – sight unseen.
In 1978, they relocated to Port Townsend. The couple welcomed a daughter, Giulietta (Gita) Badame, in 1980.
Engaging, bold, charismatic and a natural organizer, Badame quickly took up the cause of creating a public transit system for his new home town.
In May 1980, the Jefferson County Commissioners hired Badame to do a feasibility study for a new transit system. His study, completed that same year, concluded that a bus system was needed and could succeed with state and county financial support. Badame launched a public campaign which, on its first try, won the support of a majority of county voters in late 1980. In March 1981, Badame, then 33, was hired as Jefferson Transit’s first general manager. He hit the ground running, and in May 1981 Jefferson Transit carried its first passengers. In 1989, Jefferson Transit’s success was celebrated with a federal award for outstanding rural systems. Badame remained its founding general manager until 1990.
After he led Transit through its opening decade, Badame became a transportation consultant, but in 1993, returned to work in non-profits with the fledgling Port Townsend Marine Science Center as co-director for finance and development. He remained there until 2005. During Badame’s tenure some of the center’s most popular educational exhibits were created.
In 2008 he worked as operations coordinator of the Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP).
At heart Badame was a humanitarian, expressed through his civic work and passion for social justice. He served on the Port Townsend City Council from 1998-2002, was chair of the Economic Development Council and a director of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Jefferson County Planning Commission and the county’s Ferry Advisory Committee.
Through the 1990s, he was appointed by the Legislature to the Board of Pilotage Commissioners. He served on numerous local committees including strategic and long-range planning for the schools, higher education access, juvenile diversion, and Fort Worden State Park. In his retirement years, he volunteered his time as a truck driver and furniture hauler for Habitat for Humanity.
He loved the Salal Cafe on Water Street and began meeting there weekly in the early 1980s with a group of close friends that included Andy Palmer, Bill Kush, John Baker and Duke Rhoades, among others. When the Salal closed in 2012, the group, known as the Bacon Boys, moved to the Bayview Restaurant and took on new members. Badame’s friendship circle was wide and included men, women and children of all ages. He was an attentive friend, and was available to give comfort and counsel. Badame was a longtime donor to many local nonprofits and social services including the library, DVSA services, Edensaw’s Cancer Care fund, LION, Habitat for Humanity and many more.
At home, Badame came into his love of cooking at age 67 through New York Times recipes, videos, and Alexa. He pored over recipes and ingredients and was quick to share a meal with friends or people dropping by.
He was an eclectic reader throughout his life, an active library patron, an avid newspaper reader, and a curious conversationalist with the young and old. He was up for hosting impromptu gatherings or life events at the couple’s home on E Street and took great pride in turning a large side yard into what he called “Monica’s Park” for neighbors, friends and community. He was a patron of the arts, collecting mostly local art made by friends and acquaintances in and around Port Townsend.
Badame was recently diagnosed with two rare types of blood cancer. His family is forever grateful for the emergency and floor staff at Jefferson Healthcare both for their expertise as well as their care and compassion.
He is survived by his beloved partner and spouse of 52 years Monica Macguire, daughters Clare Alice Accurso (Justin Accurso) and Giulietta Badame (John Coley), and five grandchildren: John ‘Jack’, Clara Jane ‘Janie’, and Barbara Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Accurso of East Aurora, NY and Quinton and Matteo Coley of Seattle, his brother-in-law, Conrad Frandsen, as well numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends far and wide. He was preceded in death by his first family.
A celebration of life is planned for Sunday, August 18, 2 p.m. at the Park at 319 E Street in Port Townsend. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Habitat for Humanity, Dove House, or the Jefferson County Historical Society.
