Peter H. Vermilye, Jr., 73, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Somerville on August 10.

Born in New York City on Sept. 19, 1951, the son of Peter H. Vermilye, Sr., and Lucy M. Vermilye, he attended East Woods School in Oyster Bay Cove, NY, Brooks School in North Andover, and the University of Colorado at Denver. He received an MBA from Boston University.

Pete worked with computers and dabbled in real estate. Later in life he discovered his gift with plants. He studied landscape design with the Mass Horticultural Society and received a Master Gardener certificate.

Gardens were his passion and a great talent- he loved caring for plants. Until cancer forced him to stop work, he was a dedicated horticultural technician and tended many tropical and hard-to-care-for plants for Plantwerks, an interior landscaping company. At his home in Somerville, he created a backyard that looked like a botanic garden. He took care of the trees on his Somerville street.

Pete was an excellent skier, and taught skiing in his youth in the Rocky Mountains of Denver. He belonged to a ski house and went up many winter weekends. He kept skiing until he was 70.

Pete liked to rescue sad, sickly looking plants and trees and bring them back to life. He rescued a small sickly cherry tree and replanted it twice until he found the best environment at his family home in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Years later it thrives and is magnificent.

In addition to his gift with plants, Pete will be most remembered for his warm heart- his kindness in helping a family friend in medical need, his search for the right gift for a family member.

He leaves three siblings, Mary Minott of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Andrew Vermilye of Bethesda, MD, and Dana Vermilye of Manchester-by-the-Sea; and seven nieces and nephews.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to The Friends of Manchester Trees or WBUR radio, a station Pete loved.