DANVERS, MASS. (WHDH) - Family and friends hosted a celebration of Pete Frate’s life Monday, saying they wanted to pay tribute to his spirit and carry on his fight against ALS.
Hundreds came out to the celebration of life at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, where both Pete Frates and his father John attended. Community members, students, former teammates and members of the public prayed and shared memories of the 34-year-old who was the inspiration for the Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised more than $200 million for ALS research to fight the neurodegenerative disease.
John Frates said the celebration was a way to honor his son’s work instead of grieving.
“Everybody asks us all the time, ‘How could you do this, how are you keeping it up?’ We are just average people who had an amazing son, so we have to honor him in any way,” John Frates said, adding the community’s support was a reflection of his son’s spirit. “It is just an incredible outpouring of love, but if Pete did not give that love back to them originally, how could we not receive that?”
John and Nancy Frates said their son knew the ALS research he supported would not come in time to save him, but he wanted to keep fighting for others.
“Are we surprised at what he did? Well, we are surprised [about] the magnitude, we never thought of that, but really, on reflection, would not expect anything less from him because he always gave 150 percent, always thought of others,” Nancy Frates said. “He was the ultimate teammate.”
And Nancy said she was confident Pete’s work would lead to a cure.
“That will be the ultimate gift that Pete will give the world, and we will make sure that happens,” Nancy said. “ALS needs to be a thing of the past.”
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