Karel "Pete" Peck

Karel “Pete” Peck, of Lafayette, Indiana passed away peacefully on February 12, 2025. Pete was born March 17, 1942 to Lester Orville Peck and Dorothy Hood Peck, in Goodland. He and his wife of 58 years, Sherry Yochem Peck, raised their family in Remington, before moving to Lafayette.

“Mr. Peck” was a teacher and then the beloved principal at both Remington and Wolcott Elementary Schools for much of his 30-year career. Each day, he greeted his teachers and his many students by name to welcome them to school. Education was a calling for Pete and one of his joys in retirement was to happen upon his former students and hear about their successful lives. Pete was honored as Sagamore of the Wabash by Governor Frank O’Bannon upon his retirement in 1999.

Pete was a standout player on the Goodland High School basketball team that won the IHSAA Sectional in 1960, Pete’s senior year, and he passed on his lifelong love of basketball to his children and grandchildren.

Pete is survived by his loving wife, Sherry (nee Yochem) and daughters Sara Wilson (Scott) of Redondo Beach, and Melissa Piliang (Eddy) of Euclid. Also surviving are his grandchildren, Kyra Wilson, Chase Wilson, Ava Piliang, and Josephine Piliang, as well as his sister-in-law Pam Edmonds and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pete was preceded in death by his seven siblings: brothers Ted Peck, Robert “Bob” Peck and James Heldt and sisters Betty DeGroot, Janet Legler, Doris Zollman and Sandy Cheever.

Memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 12 from 12-2pm at Jane’s Gourmet Deli, 524 N 4th St., Lafayette, IN 47901. Burial at Goodland Cemetery will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Jasper Newton Foundation.org - Newton County Community Fund.

Arrangements entrusted to Gerts, Windler & Keller Funeral Homes ~ Brook Chapel, 129 E. Main St., Brook, IN 47922. (219) 275-6161. www.kellerfh.com