Peter R. Durland

Peter R. Durland died Thursday May 5, 2022, at home in Tallahassee with his loving wife, Rachel, beside him. He would have reached his 100th birthday in October. He was a decorated veteran of World War II, a retired FBI agent, and a practicing attorney and law enforcement authority in North Florida for more than 30 years. He was also a very competitive tennis and poker player with many friends and associates who will cherish the memory of his very kind and gentle soul.

Born October 17, 1922, in Norfolk, Nebraska, to Charles and Dorothy Durland, Pete graduated from Norfolk High School two years ahead of television comedian and long time Tonight Show host, Johnny Carson, a classmate whom he remembered as a local amateur entertainer and magician. He entered the University of Nebraska in 1940 and joined the ROTC. When the war started, he was drafted into the Army Specialized Training Program and went through basic training as a Private. He was then selected to go to Infantry Officers Training School at Fort Benning, Ga, where he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. and sent overseas in September 1944. A recipient of the Combat Infantry badge, he led a rifle platoon into Germany and received the Silver Star for heroism. This put him in good stead with General Leroy Watson, who made Pete his aide and later promoted him to Captain. Pete often said General Watson was “like a second father to me.” After the war and still on active duty, he was sent to Nuremberg where Watson oversaw security for the Nuremberg War Crime Trials.

Following discharge, he returned to the University of Nebraska where he received an accounting degree and completed law school. In 1949, he was admitted to the Nebraska Bar. Eager for a career, he chose the FBI. He became a special agent upon graduation from the FBI Academy and served in the New England and New York areas where he met and married his first wife, Lois Ketcham. They later moved to Washington DC where he served at FBI headquarters as a supervising agent. He also won the FBI Tennis Tournament championship; in 1954-55. He was then assigned to the Jacksonville, FL office and the family finally settled in Tallahassee where he retired from the FBI in 1976. He then went into private law practice until he took a leave of absence to care for his wife, Lois, who died in 1987.

Pete served as Director of the Lively Criminal Justice Training Academy where he taught law and investigative techniques for five years. He was a board member of the Blairstone Townhouse Association, volunteer legal advisor to Big Bend Hospice, member of the American Legion, the Tallahassee Optimist Club, the Tallahassee Tennis Association, Florida and Nebraska Bar Associations, National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and the Former Agents of the FBI Association. In retirement, Pete served as a mediator with the Citizens Dispute Settlement Program and played tennis at Forestmeadows Athletic Center with the Golden Boys and others. In 1991, he married Rachel Turpin Nichols. They traveled extensively and led a very active social life (when not reading), loved and supported each other and were inseparable.

In addition to his parents and his first wife, Pete is predeceased by his brother, Bud; sisters, Barbara Panter, and Margaret Wachter; and a nephew, Scott Wachter.

Survivors include his wife, Rachel; his son, Stephan (Maling) Dorlandt of Los Angeles; granddaughter, Dasha Dorlandt, Los Angeles; nephews, Kurt (Ann) Panter, Kentucky; Bruce, John and David (Andrea) Panter, Colorado; John Wachter, Toronto; Mark Wachter, Seattle; nieces Ann Berkleley, California, Sara Mendenhall, St. Augustine, and Beth Wachter, Tucson, AZ; stepson, Greg Nichols, and stepdaughter, Diane Richerson (Jimmy); and step-grandson, Chris Nichols, all of Tallahassee.

Memorial service will be at the Tallahassee National Cemetery at 1 p.m. May 19. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Big Bend Hospice Foundation.