Friends, neighbors remember Hal Peck

May 17—One of Aiken's favorite Hoosiers is being remembered this week for a variety of roles, including his status as one of the Aiken-Augusta area's most celebrated World War II veterans.

Indiana native Hal Peck, a longtime Houndslake resident with a background as an insurance salesman and executive, died Tuesday at age 100, having witnessed the immediate aftermath of D-Day. He was drafted in June 1943 and was vigorous for more than 75 years beyond, playing golf well into his 90s and living a few yards from Houndslake's golf course.

The Army veteran's final year of life included adding the title "Sir Hal" to his collection of honors, due to the French government's gratitude for his service in 1944-45. He served in Europe as a member of the 226th Signal Corps, having started in Liverpool, in northwestern England.

He reached Normandy June 17, 1944, 11 days after the titanic amphibious invasion began, with the area having been secured. As things turned out, Peck never had to take aim at the enemy. "My gun, during the whole service, never shot a shot. It rusted, at the end of the game, when I turned it in."

He and his two sons shared some of those memories last year, amid an Oct. 18 at Houndslake Country Club, where he was presented with the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his service in World War II. Having received the medal, the former Signal Corps serviceman officially had "knight" status, in the tradition of the military honor established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Dick Chelchowski and his father, the late Walter Chelchowski, were among Peck's closest Aiken friends, and had fellowship at Houndslake Country Club, which now has "Hal Peck Pub" among its features, due to Peck's fondness for refreshment with neighbors and other well-wishers.

Dick Chelchowski, referring to Peck, said, "I was looking forward to parading him in my Mercury convertible in the Memorial Day parade, which I'd done for the last four or five years."

Longtime friend Sharon Padgett, sharing a Peck memory, said, "He loved interacting with the ladies in the pub each week and remembered if I missed a week."

Among the memories that Peck shared in recent years was from late 1941 in Shelbyville, Indiana, his hometown. Peck, who would go on, years later, to play basketball for Tulane University, in New Orleans, was 16 at the time of the "date which will live in infamy."

Peck said, "I was a senior in high school, and I walked out of the theater. A guy drove by and just said, 'Japan bombed Pearl Harbor,' and we knew very well, when he'd said that, there was going to be a heck of a war someplace. I went on down to a club ... and that's all we could talk about. 'Well, we'll be going into service very shortly.'"

After his time in Europe, he was immediately recruited by one of his former coaches, who was now in charge of the basketball program at Tulane University. Peck excelled in college hoops, and his souvenirs included a letter, dated March 1, 1949, from Doxie Moore, commissioner of the National Basketball League (which merged with the NBA later that year). Moore confirmed strong interest in having Peck pursue a career as a pro basketball player.

Moore, based in Lafayette, Indiana, wrote to Peck that "we are very desirous of your services as a Player on one of our Teams in the National League."

Peck, decades later, laughed and recalled thinking, "'Five-foot-eight, in pro ball?' I could've got killed."

He wrote Moore back. "I was under contract to be a coach in northern Indiana — a little town called Kewanna," Peck recalled.

The basketball star and his Tulane sweetheart, the former Gwen Bailie, retired to Aiken in 1992. They tied the knot in 1949, kept it tied for 60-plus years and eventually traveled much of the world together ("all major countries except India"). Goshen, Indiana, wound up as their home base until their move to South Carolina. They were together until her death in 2010, following years of struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

Chelchowski, learning Wednesday morning of Peck's death, said, "It's a bad moment. He lived a good life — 100 years. God bless him."

Shellhouse-Rivers Funeral Home, on East Pine Log Road, is in charge of arrangements.