Peter M. Bosco, 81, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for 24 years before retiring in 1974 as program coordination staff chief in its Office of Communications, died December 30, 1998, at his home in Tucson, Arizona, after a
heart attack.

He had lived in the Washington area from the early 1940s until moving to Arizona from McLean, where he had lived for 37 years.

Mr. Bosco was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey, where he graduated from the University of Newark and worked as a journalist before World War II. During the war, he served on active duty as a communications security officer and cryptographer with the Army Security Agency.

After transferring to the CIA in 1950, he served in the Washington area, Germany and the Philippines. He also became a distinguished graduate of  the Armed Forces Staff College.

Mr. Bosco retired from the Army Reserve in the mid-1970s with the rank of colonel.

His hobbies included hiking, mountain climbing, skiing and gardening.

Survivors include his wife, the former Emma Lou Hurst, and a son, Jim, both of Tucson; two daughters, Marie Morris of Arlington, and Cindy Bosco of Denver; a brother, Raymond, of Punta Gorda, Fla.; two sisters, Deloris Cree and Irene Bosco, both also of Punta Gorda; and two grandsons.