Business leader Peter Behrendt of Boulder dies

BOULDER — Peter D. Behrendt, a former leader at IBM and chief executive of the former Exabyte Corp. in Boulder, died at his home April 26. He was 78.

Behrendt was inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame in 2008 and received numerous honors for his business acumen throughout his career.

While he lead Exabyte, the company was on Fortune Magazine’s list of 25 Fastest Growing Companies in 1991, 1992 and 1993, and was recognized as the Colorado Company of the Year by the Rocky Mountain News in 1991 and 1992. The company received the Governor’s Trophy as Colorado’s Outstanding Exporter in 1996.

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Behrendt was born Nov. 28, 1938, in Berlin, Germany to Gerda Keller Behrendt and Martin Behrendt, After the family survived the Holocaust during World War II, several years later they immigrated to America when Behrendt was 16 years old. He graduated with a degree in engineering from UCLA and began working for IBM in 1961, where he worked for 26 years before joining Exabyte.

Behrendt is survived by his wife of 47 years, Barbara; son Tony Behrendt; son Mark Behrendt and wife, Kate; son Andrew Behrendt and wife, Carolina.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Sunday, April 30, at Mountain View Beit Olam Cemetery, 3016 Kalmia Ave., Boulder 80301, after which will be a Celebration of Life at 12:30 p.m .at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, 6007 Oreg Ave., Boulder.