- April 26, 2024
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A deadly crash April 4 took a father, a husband and a superhero from one Ormond Beach family.
BY EMILY BLACKWOOD | STAFF WRITER
Peter Linek may not have worn a cape with his nice shirts and ties, but he might as well have.
The 55-year-old oral surgeon from Ormond Beach resident known for his constant energy and gratitude was killed in a head-on collision April 4.
Between working full-time and raising four kids, no one was quite sure where that energy came from.
"He worked really hard everyday," his wife Heather said. "He was always full of energy. We called him superman because we never knew where he got it. He would work all day at the office, come home and even though he was tired he would do whatever the kids wanted to do."
Not married yet a year, Heather said she met Peter at Pine Trails Elementary where their children were in school together. Peter leaves behind his daughters Ashley, 13, and Brooke, 10, and his step children Chase, 10, and Shelby, 4.
"My son and his daughter were in the same class," Heather said. "They got a long really well so I would take both of his girls home from school so the kids could play. I actually fell in love with his girls first and he was just a bonus. We use to joke about how we would time it right to bump into each other in the hallways."
Heather said he loved his job as an oral surgeon in Port Orange and the generosity he was allowed to display.
"He was always trying to give a helping hand," Heather said. "At his business he would do stuff for free because people were in pain and he didn't want them to be in pain anymore."
Growing up, Peter was known as the risk taker in his family and who was always egging on his three brothers. His mother Blanche remembers how his risks landed him in some almost permanently damaging situations.
"I remember when I told him not to open up the can of chocolate and he did it," Blanche said. "He cut his finger and I had to take him to the emergency room. It was so deep that they had to get a specialist to fix him up. He might not have been an oral surgeon if it had gone any deeper."
Though he loved to mess around, everyone agrees that nothing was more important to Peter than his family.
"The last time I was with Pete and his whole crew he was up at my house on New Years Eve," Jeff said. "He was obviously tired from driving but we were all fooling around and his two girls, Heather and her daughter just piled on top of him. He was just smiling and laughing and I could tell he was tired but it was okay with him. He loved his children and he loved Heather."
