J. Peter Cahill was born in San Francisco in 1924 to John R. and Grace Lyons Cahill and died peacefully in his home in Woodside, California. His great love of classical music became the springboard for many years of work alongside the SF Symphony and Opera.
He attended Lowell H.S. in SF, later graduating from the Thacher School in Ojai. Peter began his civil engineering degree at Stanford, completing it at UC Berkeley after participating in the Navy’s V-12 officer training program.
In his later years, Peter was named a Life Governor of the Symphony Board. He began a career in Real Estate with Marcus and Millichap in SF, later joining his father and older brothers at the Cahill Construction Company. He worked as a Real Estate Developer there for over 50 years, maintaining an avid involvement until shortly before his death. In 1953, he married Carroll Tyson Kales. For over 50 years, they shared mutual interests in art, music and travel. Carroll passed away in Aug 2, 2013. Peter is survived by his two children, Michael and Sally and his two grandchildren, Sean and Natalie, and his wife, Caroline Todd Cahill of Piedmont.
Piano Finders Society History Museum Project Connections:
His children appreciated the Steinway Grands that he purchased for the family. One of those Steinways, built in 1952, Serial No. 338662, participated in the Piano Finders Piano Donation Project in 2015 and was donated to Building Bridges. Sally Cahill, who arranged the donation said “Our home was filled with music and I want to see this piano continue making music for years to come.” 1952 Steinway D Concert Grand 338662
The Piano Connection
In descending chronological order
Description | Generation | Date | Place | People |
Piano rebuilt through “Hands Preserving History Project” | 1st | Piano Finders East | Kendall Ross Bean | |
Piano purchased from Building Bridges | 1st | Private Family Trust (undisclosed) | ||
Piano entrusted with Karen Lile Productions for Provenance Development | 1st | Piano Finders East | Karen Earle Lile | |
Piano donated to Building Bridges | 1st | San Francisco, CA | Sally and Michael Cahill | |
Piano Owned by | 1st | San Francisco, CA | J. Peter Cahill |