In 1970, forty-two-year-old Pete found himself under a bridge and at the end of his rope. "I drank my last bottle and I looked up and said, `God, what do I do now?' "

Pete landed in Houston after hitch-hiking from Georgia to Texas with $35 in his pocket, winding up on Washington Avenue at a fire station.

"I walked in and told a fireman there to call the police and have me arrested. I was cold and half sick. He took me to the back of the station and gave me cup after cup of coffee. Three hours later, I thought, ‘What kind of town is this that takes three hours to get the police?'"

When the fireman asked him if he wanted to get better, Pete said yes and spent his first night at The Men's Center. The help that Pete needed seemed to elude him when he was an alcoholic on a downward spiral, but that day became a defining moment in his life.

"They didn't ask me what I'd done and they didn't preach. They gave me a plan to follow, and I did what they wanted me to do. I got a job and paid rent to the Center. I went to work every morning and checked in with the Center every afternoon," Pete said.

Pete's habits impressed his employers who promoted him rapidly during his years as a meat cutter. Eventually he bought and operated his own restaurant. He remarried, owned a home and became widely respected for his business sense.

Though he became a successful businessman, Pete's focus remained with The Men's Center. Pete spent the last forty years of his life thanking The Men's Center for saving his life by sponsoring thousands of recovering addicts. In addition to his work with the residents, Pete is credited with restoring financial soundness to The Men's Center's operations and making forward-thinking real estate purchases to allow for The Men's Center's expansion.

Pete remained on the Board until he died one day short of his eighty-third birthday. But his most important birthday was the one in 1970, his AA birthday, and the first day of his sober life.

This story is based on an interview with Pete reported in the following article:

"Men's Center Goal is to Help Alcoholics Get, and Stay, Sober."
By Cindy Gabriel
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle