Sun City resident Pete Karambelas celebrated his one-hundedth birthday on March 18.
“I’ve had five celebrations,” he said. “Some with my family and others friends.”
A committee of Sun City residents organized a celebration.
Pete Karambelas celebrating 100th with old friends ‘Pete’ and ‘Repeat.’ (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
Flo Manning, a key committee member, shared, “The initial concept of making Pete’s one-hundredth birthday something to remember began about a year ago. Phil Haugens and I agreed that a celebration was in order for our special friend. From there, the idea snowballed, and many of his friends became involved and formed a committee. The committee met several times and came up with some great plans. The first and most difficult was getting Pete to agree to everything! He is a selfless and kind man who didn’t want to make a big deal of his one-hundredth. But we got it done, and he finally relented.”
The committee members who worked on this event consisted of Glenn Groebli, Flo Manning, Anna Rana, Phil Haugens, Pam White, Nancy Clark, Bobby Brown, Mike Christy, Bob Elvert, Tim Clifton, Jeff McCleave, Leo Brandenburger, Joe Losso, and Bob Lodewyck.
The ballroom at Drendel was filled with Sun City residents, all eager to celebrate and offer their Birthday wishes. Huntley Village President Timothy J. Hoeft and Manager David J. Johnson attended the event.
President Hoeft spoke at the celebration, recounting stories of his conversations with Karambelas.
“I was surprised to hear Pete was turning one-hundred,” he said.
Hoeft made a proclamation in recognition of Pete Karambelas’ one-hundredth birthday.
Manning emphasized, “It was important that we recognize Pete’s Greek heritage. Several members of the Greek Club, headed by Lois Andressakis, made Greek cookies and sang Happy Birthday in Greek to him at the party. Lois did a lot of work, making cookies, getting the Greek club members together, compiling the Greek flags, honoring Pete’s Greek heritage.”
In the span of his life, Karambelas has crossed paths with many famous individuals. Two of his favorites were Paul Harvey and Jackie Kennedy. He met Paul Harvey through his son, who worked for Paul Harvey as his radio engineer for 19 years. It was common for Harvey to ask Karambelas what was happening in Sun City.
Karambelas said, “He had an interest in our community. At one time, Mr. Harvey was heard on over 1100 radio stations across the USA and had the top-rated network radio program for many years. Some of you may recall that an extremely popular segment of his talk show included, ‘and now you know the rest of the story.’ His talented son, Paul Jr, wrote that.”
At the Sun City Celebration, Pete’s son, Bill, played a tape from Paul Harvey’s show wishing Karambelas a happy 80th birthday. The message solicited a laugh from the show’s host as he informed the radio audience that 80-year-old Pete had just finished playing 18 holes of golf and was on his way to softball practice.
In 1956, Chicago hosted the Democratic Convention. Karambelas worked for the event, chauffeuring politicians attending.
Karambelas said, “John F. Kennedy hoped to win the vice president nomination. Unfortunately, he did not win. Shortly afterward, I was asked to give Mrs. Kennedy a ride to her hotel. We had a nice conversation, and when I dropped her off, my parting words to her were: One day, you will be the First Lady in the White House. And she graciously smiled.”
Karambelas’ cherished moments include spending time with his two sons, Bill and Tommy. “I loved our vacations and being involved in all their activities. Fortunately, both were successful in their occupational careers,” he said.
Karambelas spoke of another fond memory.
“When I was a sophomore at Steinmetz High School, I enjoyed playing baseball in Comiskey Park,” he said. “In that game, we won the Chicago City Wide Championship. The following season, we played at Wrigley Field for the Cook County American Legion Championship. Unfortunately, we lost.”
In the Steinmetz High School Yearbook, under Karambelas’ photo, it states, “Big League baseball is Greek’s ambition (Also Eddie Gaedel’s).” Karambelas played three years on the high school team, and in his senior year, he broke his thumb and was out for the season.
Karambelas was drafted immediately after graduating high school in 1943.
“I joined the Navy and attended Radar School in San Diego shortly after graduation. I was assigned to a relatively small ship, the PCE 842. We did convoy duty, escorting ships, troops, and oiler tankers. We were also responsible for anti-submarine duties, dropping depth charges on suspected enemy subs in the Atlantic and Pacific,” he said.
Phil Haugens, Sun City resident and friend, relayed a story on an incident on the ship.
“On one of the ship port stops in Borneo, a couple of enlisted men brought a monkey aboard and asked Pete to take care of it. They named it Pete. Later, another monkey was brought on board, named Repeat. Per Pete, unfortunately, one monkey got into the captain’s cabin. While the captain was sleeping, he felt warm liquid on his body and face. The following day, the captain ordered Pete to drop off the monkeys at the next port stop,” Haugens said.
At the Drendel Ballroom celebration, a table was set up with two blown-up monkeys, Pete and Repeat, appearing for the birthday celebration.
Karambelas started his life after the Navy as a teacher and coach.
“I always worked well with the kids,” he said. “Years later, one of my eighth-grade kids invited me to their 45th reunion. I was honored. ”
After teaching, he worked as a Life Underwriter for All State Insurance.
“At one point in my life, I decided to buy a lodge with a restaurant and bar on the Namekagon River in Hayward, Wisconsin. We called it The Wild River Inn. One of the amenities we were known for was the number of canoes available. We advertised that we owned more canoes than Aristotle Onassis ever had,” he said.
Quite often, Karambelas has been asked about the secret to long life.
Karambelas said, “I have good genes. Many of my relatives have lived to at least 70 years and older. I never smoked. I keep myself physically and mentally active. I occasionally have a drink or two. I enjoy playing pickleball and golf with friends. After playing, we usually go to McDonalds for group therapy. We discuss personal and worldwide problems. Moving to Del Webb was one of the best moves I made.”
Currently, Karambelas also has a part-time job at Marengo Ridge Golf. What do you give someone for their one-hundredth birthday? Pete’s son, Bill, found the perfect gift: a new golf cart.
Karambelas said, ‘I greatly appreciate the Committee’s time and effort spent organizing my one-hundredth birthday celebration, which was one of the most memorable days in my life.”
