Consultant helped isle
communities become a reality

Peter Amcotts / 1924-2002

SEE ALSO: OBITUARIES

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Former Oahu resident and agribusiness and engineering consultant Peter Amcotts, 77, died at his home in Marin County, Calif., May 7.

Among his accomplishments during 35 years in Hawaii were work in 1960 as a consulting engineer for reconstruction after the Hilo tsunami; consulting to Henry Kaiser for the original Hawaii Kai project; planning and design for the Kalani-Iki development; vice president of engineering for Castle & Cooke's Mililani Town; consultant to Alexander and Baldwin for the Aepoeha Reservoir on Kauai; and senior project manager for the Villages of Kapolei.

His company, International Research and Development Corp., provided consulting services in Hawaii and overseas from 1970 until this year.

Though a civil engineer by training, Amcotts provided agricultural consulting with a jojoba oil project on Maui and a number of projects overseas, said daughter Julie Dougherty. Dougherty said her father kept a map of all his flight routes on travels to 68 countries.

Amcotts was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1924 and was a captain in the British Royal and Indian Corps of Engineers during World War II.

He and his wife, Daphne, met in Ceylon and lived in England, Africa and Canada before settling in Hawaii from 1960 to 1996.

Dougherty described her father as an entrepreneur.

"Either we had money or were eating coconuts in the back yard. He was one of those people who'd make it and then lose everything," Dougherty said. "He'd come up with ideas and do these projects, very creative. Afterward, he'd get back on the horse and do something else. He never wanted to retire."

One of his not-so-successful ventures was a plan to grow jojoba on Maui and sell the plant's oil for use in cosmetics, detergents and food products.

The family moved all over Oahu as Amcotts pursued his avocation of buying houses, fixing them up and then selling them, Dougherty said. An avid sailor, he did the same with sailboats. Dougherty credited her father with being ahead of his time when he designed condominium complexes with underground utilities and community centers.

Despite failing eyesight, Amcotts self-published an autobiography about his life titled "The Best Laid Plans."

"He always kept a little notebook in his pocket, and whenever he met someone or did something, he took a note," Dougherty said. He wrote his life story based on 50 years of those little notebooks.

Dougherty said her parents were able to vacation on Oahu and Maui within the past year, which was important for her father. "My dad really missed Hawaii. I think his last wish was to come back to Hawaii and have a vacation."

In addition to his wife and Dougherty, Amcotts is survived by daughter Karen, brother Bill, sister Kathleen Ellis and four grandchildren. The family plans a July scattering of ashes in the ocean off Diamond Head. For information, contact Julie Dougherty at 415-927-0501.