Peter Killheffer was born on September 3, 1936, in Woodbury, NJ to Grace Henyon Killheffer and John Wesley Killheffer. He had one older sister, Janet. The first seventeen years of his life were spent in Woodstown, NJ. The family moved to Barrington, RI where Peter spent his Senior year at Barrington High School. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in economics from the University of Rhode Island.