Peter C. Trainer

“Peter was truly one of the good guys.” “He was a very good man.” “Peter was an amazing man. A great husband, a father, and a compassionate human.” These were the words most often spoken by friends learning of his death.
Peter C. Trainer, age 76, of Orleans, died peacefully in The Terraces of Orleans on April 12, 2025. His death was caused by vascular dementia, revealed and complicated by effects of a severe hemorrhagic stroke in 2023.
Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1948, his parents, Walter and Esther Trainer, brought Peter to Dennis Port when he was nine months old.
Since his first months were spent in New Jersey, Peter never felt entitled to proclaim himself a true Cape Codder, yet he was every inch a true one. Growing up in the 50s, and 60s, Peter learned to swim in Sand Pond and at West Dennis Beach, crabbed in Swan Pond, learned to shoot a rifle at the Dennis Police Department firing range, and hunted small game in the woods and puckerbrush of the Mid and Lower Cape. He ran track and cross country during high school at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional HS, graduating in 1966. Peter received a bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 1974 from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Peter worked four summers as a Cape Cod National Seashore lifeguard at the beaches in Truro and Provincetown, forming lifelong friendships with lifeguards and rangers during those summers. In the summer of 1971, he met his future wife, CCNS seasonal ranger naturalist Carol Etzold. Their relationship grew, although for two years each pursued jobs in different states. For one year, Peter served as a crew member aboard the 80ft. motorsailer, Sea Star, cruising the Caribbean during the winter and along the Maine coast in the summer. After those years of living apart, Peter and Carol became a couple in 1974 and married in 1980, settling down in Fairfield County, CT. At first, they lived at The Audubon Center in Greenwich where Carol was employed as an educator, and eventually bought a home in Easton, CT where they lived for thirty years and raised their son Glenn, born in 1986.
During that time, Peter realized he wanted a career working with his hands, following in his father’s footsteps as a residential carpenter. Initially he worked for small high-end home remodeling contractors in Fairfield County CT and Westchester County NY. In the early 90’s he formed his own one-man home remodeling business, Easton Carpentry, which he operated for over 20 years, continuing to specialize in home remodeling and repairs of high-end homes. “I always admired his talent with wood, but I could never equal it,” said one friend for whom Peter also did carpentry work. Throughout his career he became known for his meticulous work and attention to detail. He was especially proud of his complicated moldings, perfect corners and finished surfaces. “Was there anything he couldn’t do without being accurate and precise?” A creative problem solver, it was not uncommon for Peter to invent his own tools and templates to solve specific problems, whether for his professional jobs or for his own home. No matter where he lived, his basement and garage became warehouses for “pieces that I might need someday.”
Peter quickly took to his role as a Dad. He happily got up before dawn on weekend mornings to drive 7-year old Glenn to hockey practice, and loved having toddler Glenn “help” him do yard work and snow shoveling. Although Peter had never been a soccer player, he surprised even himself by becoming a coach of 7-year old Glenn’s recreational soccer team. Always a lover of the outdoors, in addition to family hikes through local parks and conservation areas, Peter took young Glenn camping in northern Connecticut on weekends and camped in Nickerson State Park, Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks during school vacations. Although Peter and his family spent many vacations on the Lower Cape, they also spent some summer vacations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where they first experienced the fun of kayaking and warmer ocean temperatures. Over the years, Peter also developed his interest in genealogy, and researched extensive information on the Trainer family ancestry.
Retiring in 2014 when Carol retired from her classroom teaching job, the couple moved to Orleans, midway between Peter’s remaining family members on the Mid Cape and their favorite haunts on the Outer Cape. Peter wasn’t interested in travel, and loved living on the Cape in the off-season. His favorite month here was February! He devoted his time to improving and maintaining their house and property in Orleans. By himself, Peter redesigned and remodeled their kitchen (his third kitchen remodel in one of his homes) down to the studs, including moving a window and altering a doorway. He loved working in the yard, and enjoyed working outdoors all winter long.
Peter maintained he was happiest “when his butt was in the bottom of a kayak”. He loved launching his peddle kayak from Nauset Beach to fish for bluefish and stripers until the presence of sharks near the beach became too frequent for comfort. Peter and Carol loved to explore the Cape’s estuaries and larger ponds. Peter also took estuary water quality samples from his kayak for the Orleans Water Quality Committee. During late afternoons in the summer, he could often be found running on Nauset Spit and then swimming in Nauset Harbor. In the winter before his stroke, Peter became a regular swimmer in the Willy’s Gym salt water pool.
In the years following Peter and Carol’s move back to Orleans, they established new friendships and rekindled many old ones from their CCNS days, delighted to find so many old friends had themselves moved back to Cape Cod after having had off-Cape careers. Although soft spoken, everyone who knew him came to be a friend. One of his newer friends described Peter this way: “Peter [was] a truly kind man who always acted as if we were old friends to be warmly welcomed.” He will be greatly missed.
Peter is survived by his wife of 45 years, Carol Etzold of Orleans, son Glenn Trainer and daughter in law Laura Coe of Kirkland, Washington, grandson Roman Trainer of Washington, sisters Sara Trainer of Dennis Port and Judi Long of Harwich, and numerous cousins.
Peter’s family is forever grateful to all the caregivers at The Terraces of Orleans for giving Peter the best possible quality of life during his last months. Each person at the Terraces knew Peter as an individual, not just a resident. The care they provided was more than highly professional, it was both personal and heartfelt.