Peter J. Booras Museum

Cathedral of the Pines named Peter J. Booras Museum in honor of a gift from the Booras family.

Peter J. Booras was a very successful businessman from Keene, NH where his family ran a restaurant for many years serving Keene’s Greek community. He was a devoted veteran and a loyal supporter of the cathedral. Peter brought hundreds of Greek people to services at the cathedral—upwards of 2,000 people in the 70s and 80s.

One of the veterans that Cathedral of the Pines and its museum was founded upon was Sanderson “Sandy” Sloane who served as a B-17 pilot in World War Two. Sandy was shot down in February of 1944 and lost his life. He had planned to come home and build a home on the site where the cathedral’s is currently located.

The museum has hundreds of artifacts that have been donated to Cathedral of the Pines over the last 60 years. Two of its highlights are: Sandy’s footlocker – obtained in recent years – containing dozens of letters that he wrote home to his bride and a wonderful display about Sandy’s younger brother, Jack’s aircraft. Jack flew a B-26 and was the son who did come home. We obtained Jack’s flight jacket from his family, which is displayed on a mannequin. It is a very moving display about two brothers who served in WWII one who lost his life, and the other who came home and participated in the cathedral over the years.

The museum has some artifacts from WWI, but the majority are from WWII. During last year’s opening of the museum, we hosted many WWII veterans who were still alive and in good health, who spoke from memory about the different exhibits we have on display as they had experienced these events many years ago.