Charles Hutchins
We are losing the best of us.
Alas, Pete and I have been sharing our birthday greetings with long phone call for decades. Pete would have been 84 July 7th as was I, 84 in January 2023. in January. Over the years medical events crept in as well as things we had forgotten. My wife and I visited Pete and Lynn at their Skytraqs resort on lake palastine. That was the last face to face.
My best recollection was attendance at the Fort Wayne, Indiana YMCA Camp in 1948. Our family had Just moved from Marion to FW. One of the activities during the 2 week camp session was an archery contest. I had stayed in the area after the competition was completed to see who had won. A voice loudly called out that the winner was Pete deVoogdt. (back then the Dutch ancestry last name had a lower case d to start, not a capitalized D. Later, I'm sure school, military service, et al required the change in the D). I had never met Pete before that day, but I went out with a bunch of campers to find Pete and give him the good news. We did find him and we became best friends 3rd grade at Forest Park Elementary and Jr HS to Soph year at Northside HS in FW when my family moved again, this time to Santa Monica, CA. His life went one way- Indiana University, Military, Pharmacy school, the Resort on Lake Palistine and in later years he and Lynn's canine breeding service. My travel was one year at Stanford University, 4 years in the Navy as an operating room technician running sick call on 2 ships. I finished college at UCSB after separation from the service. UCLA Medical School, and 6 more years of training to become a Pulmonologist/Intensivist. I retired in 2002 and could travel- one of the first trips was to visit Pete. There was time during our FW schooling that Pete and family went back to CA. I didn't know until years that they went to San Clemente. I wonder if he was visiting any of the years that my parents also lived in Clemente. If I had known I would have looked his family up. I guess the gist of my little story is that I am losing some of my best friends with Pete the best and longest (1948 - 2023.= 75 years.) God be with you, I hope we will meet again in the hereafter.
My best recollection was attendance at the Fort Wayne, Indiana YMCA Camp in 1948. Our family had Just moved from Marion to FW. One of the activities during the 2 week camp session was an archery contest. I had stayed in the area after the competition was completed to see who had won. A voice loudly called out that the winner was Pete deVoogdt. (back then the Dutch ancestry last name had a lower case d to start, not a capitalized D. Later, I'm sure school, military service, et al required the change in the D). I had never met Pete before that day, but I went out with a bunch of campers to find Pete and give him the good news. We did find him and we became best friends 3rd grade at Forest Park Elementary and Jr HS to Soph year at Northside HS in FW when my family moved again, this time to Santa Monica, CA. His life went one way- Indiana University, Military, Pharmacy school, the Resort on Lake Palistine and in later years he and Lynn's canine breeding service. My travel was one year at Stanford University, 4 years in the Navy as an operating room technician running sick call on 2 ships. I finished college at UCSB after separation from the service. UCLA Medical School, and 6 more years of training to become a Pulmonologist/Intensivist. I retired in 2002 and could travel- one of the first trips was to visit Pete. There was time during our FW schooling that Pete and family went back to CA. I didn't know until years that they went to San Clemente. I wonder if he was visiting any of the years that my parents also lived in Clemente. If I had known I would have looked his family up. I guess the gist of my little story is that I am losing some of my best friends with Pete the best and longest (1948 - 2023.= 75 years.) God be with you, I hope we will meet again in the hereafter.
