Chladek, Pete

From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki

Pete Chladek married Karin Johanson in the fall of 1974 and they raised three children, Crystal, Jon and Nanci, in their home in Glen Ellyn, IL.

Pete's father emigrated from Czechoslovakia.^DW21

He worked as an engineer for Hadley-Monroe Industries, where in 1974 he helped develop the controller for a Laser Die Cutter. He is a competent engineer, but over the years that he was married to Karin, became a stubborn opinionated crusty grumpy old fart with a fierce temper and strong racist views. His attitude, temper and racism eventually drive away Crystal and Jon, and finally Karin has enough and divorces him around 1999. He finally kicks out Nanci too, and so loses all his family.

When Hadley-Monroe contracted with Lambdatron to redesign the Laser Die-cutter Controller, Pete worked with Jennlynn Swift as the Lambdatron contact, unaware that it was actually his son Jon and Jon's girlfriend Tanisha Blythe that did the real work.

When he learned that Karin was leaving him while he was on a trip to Japan, his temper prompted Phil Wine to quit Hadley-Monroe, too.

His anger and his terrible headaches eventually led to collapse late at work. As a result, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, successfully operated on, and recovered.

He reestablished contact with his family; and even became friendly with his ex-wife. He became friends and then married Doris, the woman who found him collapsed at work and then helped him recover.^GT21