PHOTO BY SPENCER HASAK
Pete Pedro talks about how sports have helped him through a difficult time.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — Resting on the flue of his wood-burning stove is a sheet-metal rendering of a pistol, with the name “Pete Pedro” under it.
“Pistol” Pete Pedro” became his nickname as he created a legacy for himself as one of the city’s Top 10 athletes of all time at Lynn Trade, now Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.
“You know who gave me that nickname?” Pedro asked. “(Former Item executive sports editor) Red Hoffman, back in the 1950s.”
That legacy and moniker has ensured his enduring popularity here. Pedro, a Lynn native, said he is grateful at how well he has been served by his athletic past. That was never made clearer to him than last year. At the time, his son, Anthony “Ricky” Pedro, died at 47, just hours after he’d talked to his mother and Pedro’s wife, Gloria, on the telephone.
On Saturday, Pedro quietly explained the nightmare of learning about his son’s sudden turn for the worse, which occurred last November. His voice grew even softer as he described how his family gathered at Union Hospital and were told that doctors couldn’t stop the internal bleeding that caused his son’s death. Five minutes after the family visited him to say their goodbyes, he was gone.
“The Pedro family has been blessed,”he said. “We have wonderful friends, all throughout Lynn, and all those friends, from all walks of life, were there for us. You should have seen our house. There were so many flowers. And the food? You could have fed a football team with all the food.”
But what really helped Pedro cope with the tragedy were his grandchildren, especially Ricky’s sons, Eric and Stephen. Eric played for the Division 1 state finalist boys’ hockey team, and scored a goal in last week’s championship game against Franklin. Also, Alex Pedro, son of Peter Pedro Jr., swims for Lynn Classical. While Pedro has always attended their various games and meets, they took on added significance last winter. Pedro was convinced he felt his son’s presence at Eric’s hockey games.
“I’d swear Ricky was watching over him,” Pedro said. “I know he was. Ricky used to talk about him all the time — his hockey. I know Ricky would have been so proud of him. Both (Eric and Stephen) have done well. But both miss their father very much.”
Pedro cannot say enough about the support he received from St. Mary’s staff, from the administration to the janitors.
“Everybody, from the principal, to the teachers, custodians … honest to God, they have been wonderful,” he said.
As has his son-in-law, Dave Brown, St. Mary’s boys’ basketball coach. Brown’s basketball team went all the way in Division 4, beating Maynard, 61-52, earlier this month in the title game at Springfield College. Pedro went along for that ride too.
“David has been wonderful to me since he started coaching,” Pedro said. “He comes and picks me up and brings me to the school. I ride the bus to and from the road games. I work setting up the concession stand for the home games.”
One of the nice aspects about growing up in Lynn is how many people rallied to his side when his son died, Pedro said.
“There are so many caring people,” he said. “And all the people who come up to tell you they’re sorry, it makes you feel good. It’s important to know that people care as much as they do.”