Peter Sivess
Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times

6/3/2003)

Candler - Peter Sivess, 89, of Candler, died Sunday, June 1, 2003, in a local health care facility.

Mr. Sivess, a native of South River, N.J., graduated from Dickinson College in Carlysle, Pa., where he was enshrined into the Dickinson College Hall of Fame as the only four letter athlete in the colleges history. At Dickinson he was a member of the Ravens Claw and Omicron Delta Kappa Fraternity. In his three years as a varsity pitcher he was 20 and 7. After graduation he went straight into the majors playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

He joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor and served in all three theaters, spending time in Romania, Russia, Turkey, Greece and the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. Mr. Sivess was also decorated by the Czechoslovakian and Russian governments for his leadership during reconstruction. Following World War II he started a 28 year career in the CIA. Most of that time he was in charge of the defectors that came into this country from the old Soviet Bloc. As head of the Ailen Branch he was personally involved in interviewing, rehabilitating and resettling these political refugees as productive American citizens. They ranged from generals to spies to leading political figures. In 1972 he retired to St. Michaels, Md., where he pursued his hobbies of hunting, fishing and golf.

Mr. Sivess is survived by his son, George P. Sivess and wife, Rita, of Candler; sister, Anne Sivess of Daytona, Fla.; and sister-in-law, Georgette Downs of Deland, Fla.

The graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Saint Peters Church Cemetery in Spotswood, N.J. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Morris Funeral Home, 304 Merrimon Ave., Asheville.