PETER SOUCOUP

Pete was kind of regarded as a slob. For the most part, he seemed to relish it. I don't think he really cared what others thought of him.

My first memories of pete are from Clarke. What stands out in my mind most was an incident that happened in 6th grade. Clarke had a set of swings that we referred to as the "dome swings." I believe it was a circular structure that held five swings. In the middle of the circle, hanging from the center, was a thick chain. The chain was used to strap the five swings to, during the winter. Apparently swinging is a non-snow activity. Whatever.

Anyway, that chain was something that we used to kick with our feet, as we swung up in the air. That poor chain would clang against the top of the bars as we took turns slamming it. But something unexpected happened to Pete one day. I was actually swinging right next to him when Pete went up... and didn't come down. Pete had somehow defied astronomical odds, and got the chain wrapped around his leg. He was literally hanging there, arms on his swing, leg caught in the chain, and his butt suspended in the air between the two.

It was one hell of a sight. Of course I couldn't even hear myself think, as any thoughts I may have had were drowned out by the panicked screams of Pete. He was absolutely terrified - and rightfully so. He was screaming and crying, pleading for help. I actually climbed up to see what I could do. But Trey Schenk had gotten up there first, and was frantically trying to pry Pete's foot from the chain. He asked Pete to push his foot up a bit, to which Pete screamed, "I can't!" Finally, after maybe two or three minutes, his foot become dislodged, and Pete came down, skidding in the dirt. He was then helped away, just as a few teachers arrived to help. The next day, the chain was gone.

My next memory of Pete is from 7th grade. I was walking with Toby Schwartz, when Pete came strolling by. Pete apparently had some gas. So he grabbed Toby, and tried to force his face into his ass, so he could let loose with some putrid fumes. Toby was able to struggle free, thus avoiding a horrible memory.

I don't have a whole lot of memories from Pete in high school. But he was there. I believe he was in some special education classes. But power to him. He did graduate with us.

One thing I do remember is that in our freshman year, Peter and I actually got together to play a trick on Toby Schwartz. It was probably the first and last time that I ever teamed up with Peter. Anyway, the last day of school before Christmas vacation, it was arranged that the student body would watch the film FLETCH. The juniors and seniors got to watch it in the morning. The freshman and sophomores got to watch it in the afternoon, during sixth and seventh hour. I was going to sit with Kevin Dehne (who I shit you not, brought a garbage bag full of popcorn). But at the last moment, I sat with Toby Schwartz on my left, and Ron Gretz on my right. Midway through the film, Toby fell asleep. I kept waking him up. But he was a lost cause. He just couldn't keep his eyes open. So Ron and I took his glasses off, wrapped up the lenses with masking tape, then put them back on Toby's face. Peter was a few seats down from Toby, and was laughing at our antics. Peter took it one step further. He came over, undid Toby's pants a bit, then took Toby's left arm and shoved it into the crotch area. It was funny as hell! Toby eventually woke up, and was actually pretty good-natured about it.

I ran into Pete a few times at the video store. We never had much to say to each other. Last I heard, Pete was working at Mirro. He was married to a woman named Anna, and was living in Two Rivers.

UPDATE - 11/24/06 - I got an E-mail from someone who knew Pete. This person would like to remain anonymous. So I've copied and pasted the E-mails below.

"Good ole Pete Soucoup worked at Mirro until it shut down and now lives in Sheboygan with a long time girlfriend named Melissa, last I heard. Oh yeah, he is quite the ladies man too, or at least he was until Melissa clipped him. He is a member of the Immortals Motorcycle gang and has impregnated at least four women previous to shacking up with Melissa. I remember him telling me multitudes of stories about his stripper exploits with his "brothers." He dated Christee Neuser (TR class of 90 or 91) back around 97 to 99. They got into a big brawl after they broke up one of their numerous times. He was screaming that she gave him a leaky faucet and she was yelling back equally loud that he could have picked it up from any number of his stripper friends. There were about 20 people rolling on the floor with laughter. I have fond memories of witnessing Pete eating a bag of micro popcorn, ripping the bag open at the seam, and licking out the grease on the inside of the bag. UGH. I dont know if ladies man is the right word for Peter. He was one of those enigmas. He treated women like crap and was only after sex for the most part. He wanted a woman he could dangle on his arm and to hold on when they were riding his motorcycle. One of the turning points in his relationship with Christee was the fact that he wanted her to wear an Immortals leather vest that said "Pete's woman" or "Property of Pete" - something like that. She wasnt going to be labeled as property of anyone. She was rather pissed. I remember another time I was working in the back area with Pete and he was bored. So he came over to talk to me. He told me about his "girlfriend" - a stripper at a local strip club. She only wanted to see him the weekend we were paid. She fed him some line that he totally fell for. Something to the effect that if she was hanging around with her boyfriend at the strip club all the time, she would lose her job. I tried to tell him she probably had another boyfriend the opposite week he was paid plus a couple others who were paid mid-week. Of course, he didnt believe me, what did I know I am just a dumb blonde! lol"

UPDATE - 5/1/07 - Kevin Dehne walked over to a local bar in his neighborhood yesterday, and lo and behold, Pete Soucoup was in there. Not one to miss an opportunity, Kevin ran home and got his camera. The girl with Pete is his girlfriend. There are two video clips as well. You can see them below. The second one if pretty crude. Notice he mentions "Brett Witting" (class of 1988). I'm pretty sure he meant to say "Brett Gruetzmacher."