‘Giving life everything he could’: Remembering Pete Petro

Pete Petro was diagnosed at an early age with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease marked by the progressive weakening of muscles and loss of muscle mass.

But the young man from Vestavia Hills refused to let it define him, said his mother, Kathy Petro.

“He said he would fight this,” she said. “He never gave up.”

Pete, 28, died June 10 after battling COVID-19. His existing disability made it hard to battle the virus, Petro said. It was the second loss for the Petro family in the last two years, following the 2021 death of Pete’s sister, Grace, at the age of 32.

“He just loved her so much,” Petro said of Pete and Grace’s relationship.

Pete’s friends and mother told the Vestavia Voice about the young man with an “infectious smile” who was incredibly smart and kind and did not let his disability hold him back.

‘Rock star’

Pete was a “great kid,” and while his mother would always worry people would make fun of him, she had nothing to be worried about.

When he wanted to go to a football game in junior high, Kathy Petro went with him and was worried he might fall or whether his friends would be there. But as they started making their way through the crowd, everyone started calling his name, she said.

“He was a rock star,” Kathy said. “People loved him. He had the most wonderful friends a mom could ask for.”

One of those friends was Georgie Salem, who graduated one year before Pete.

“We just loved hanging out,” Salem said.

While Pete couldn’t fish or golf after moving full-time to a wheelchair in college, he was a “foodie,” Salem said. Salem always let him pick the restaurant and was never disappointed. In those lunch conversations, Pete brought humor and wit and an “infectious smile,” Salem said.

“Pete had a huge heart,” Salem said. “He was an inspiring human.”

Over the course of a two-and-a-half hour dinner, Pete never brought up his disability, Salem said.

Knowing Pete gave her a new perspective on life.

“If I’m ever down … I always think about Pete and how he went through life,” Salem said.

Hasty Moran met Pete at Samford University’s business school during a “World of Business” class.

“Fate allowed us to cross paths,” Moran said. “He could’ve been down. … He didn’t see his deficiency as anything other than an opportunity.”

The two would laugh and talk about girls, movies and more, Moran said.

“Pete would always blush when talking about girls,” Moran said.

At Moran’s rehearsal dinner, Pete met Moran’s fiancee and now wife for the first time.

“For the longest time, I didn’t think she existed,” Pete said in what Moran recalled as a “great” speech.

Pete taught Moran to be thankful for what he has and changed the way he views the word “grace,” he said. While he knows he won’t see him again here, Moran said he’s happy for where Pete is now.

Jay Davis met Pete at Samford in the same class as Moran.

“He was one of those guys it was hard not to meet,” Davis said.

Despite his disability, Pete was always happy and was the most positive person in the university’s business school, Davis said.

“He was a bright light,” Davis said.

Pete was “an old soul” and was “wise beyond his years,” Davis said.

Davis recalled meals shared at Wasabi Juan’s together. Knowing Pete couldn’t just go somewhere on his own, and that it took effort to go somewhere, made those times even more special, Davis said.

After graduation, Davis moved to Philadelphia, and the two didn’t see each other for a year or so. But while many people may change after college, Pete was still the same when they were able to reconnect.

“I think his perspective on life puts things in perspective for me,” Davis said. “He was the best possible Pete Petro that he could be.”

Sam Irvin met Pete in fifth grade and became really close with him during their time together in Vestavia Hills City Schools. From middle school through 10th grade, Irvin pushed Pete in his wheelchair.

“He was a great guy,” Irvin said.

As they grew up and Irvin married and had a son, Pete was always asking about him and his family, Irvin said.

“He changed a lot, but he remained the same Pete,” Irvin said.

Pete was always conscious of other people’s lives and never had a negative comment, Irvin said.

Toward the end of his life, Pete had to use one arm to lift up the other, Irvin said. Still, he cared more about other people than himself, he said.

Pete was incredibly grateful for his time at Samford, his mother said. One of the reasons why was his favorite professor, William Belski.

“Pete was one of my favorite students ever,” Belski said. “It [his death] has taken its toll.”

Pete was “super inquisitive” and always wanted to go deeper, Belski said. He was always prepared for class, a rare quality for students, Belski said.

Pete tutored at the school, always helping others, in ways that even Belski couldn’t, Belski said. During a recent performance review at Pete’s job at The Onin Group, he was asked to write about three people who inspired him. One of the people he chose was Belski. Pete texted him what he wrote, a text Belski now cannot read without tearing up.

“My college accounting professor is steadfast, unapologetically true to himself and knowledgeable,” Pete wrote. “He is unendingly loyal to his students, and is committed to their success. He is true to himself, as he has his own teaching style and is unwavering in his execution of it. He makes his exams harder than the CPA exam, but he does so while also curving the grades so they follow the bell-curve. While plenty of students are resentful that he does not give out as many A's and B's as other professors, he is unshakable in his belief that by challenging his students and not guaranteeing an A, he is ultimately helping them in the long run. He is immensely knowledgeable about what he teaches, and has plenty of first-hand experience.”

Belski called it one of the “sweetest things a student has ever done for me.”

Pete had the “perfect” way of looking at life. When he died, his mom texted Belski to let him know, and Belski said he never knew anything about his illness.

“He wanted to be exactly like anybody else,” Belski said.

‘Giving life everything he could’

Pete never wanted his disability to hold him back, Kathy said.

“He had his moments where he was scared to death,” she said.

But he still gave everything in life his best effort.

“He gave life everything he could,” she said.

He made an impact everywhere he went, she said. One of the teaching assistants he came to know at Samford said Pete “was the reason people teach on the college level,” Kathy said.

“He liked to be challenged mentally,” Kathy said. “I think he would’ve been a great professor.”

The family is getting through this time through a “strong faith in God,” Petro said.

“We know that they’re [Pete and Grace] safe and with God,” Petro said. “We’ll see them again. … This is not the end. This is not our home.”