Fitness and friendship. Clients, colleagues remember the life of Downers Grove Park District trainer Pete Wilt

When Keith Drankiewicz took a cousin with Parkinson’s Disease to the Downers Grove Park District for fitness training, he never expected the trainer would become a good friend.

But that’s exactly what happened after he met Pete Wilt “six or seven years ago.”

Clients and colleagues aren’t surprised. They say that happened often with people who met Wilt.

“We had a lot to talk about. He was a great guy. I considered him a real good friend,” said Drankiewicz, 76, a Woodridge resident.

He and many other clients and coworkers lost that “real good friend” when Wilt, a trainer at the fitness center for more than 22 years, died on April 30.

Marie Klaus, fitness supervisor at the center, said Wilt died from cardiac arrest during his cancer treatment. She called his passing “very shocking.”

“When I reached out to his clients, they were devastated. The hardest part was nobody got to say anything to him and let him know how much of an impact he had,” Klaus said.

Anna Aquino is well aware of the positive impact Wilt made. She and Wilt started as trainers in Downers Grove in 2003.

“We were among the original five or six trainers hired. We did work together for 22 years,” Aquino said.

What set him apart as a trainer was “he was really knowledgeable and good about keeping his knowledge up to date,” she said.

“He always had the most recent science behind his suggestions and he was very good at explaining thing to clients.

“You have to be able to read your audience. He was good at connecting with people and he made the time spent with him fun,” Aquino, 58, of Naperville, said.

That approached worked with fellow trainers, too, Klaus said.

“When we brought new trainers on board, he always offered to help them. He was always willing to help,” Klaus said.

Klaus said Wilt had the knack of “making everyone feel like they belonged. ... People knew him all around the fitness center, even if they didn’t train with him. ... He was such a popular guy.”

Drankiewicz knows all about that.

“Pete would design things for you. He would take into consideration your age and what your body could do,” Drankiewicz said.

And if he came in hurting one day?

Wilt would “change things on the fly, off the top of his head.”

Another client, Dave Wildermuth, said he and Wilt had plenty in common.

“He had been a basketball referee for many years. And I played basketball when I was a young man. It’s still my favorite sport. We’d talk basketball, but more than sports, (we’d talk about) what was happening in the political arena,“ Wildermuth said.“We became real good friends.

Most would say, ‘Oh, I’m not looking forward to seeing my trainer this week.’ I was just the opposite. I always looked forward to it. It’s just so sad,” said Wildermuth, 75, of Downers Grove.

He and wife enjoyed seeing Wilt at the Morton Arboretum for the Christmas lights display each year. Wilt worked there as a volunteer and gave them passes each year.

Wildermuth, who received a new hip last year, said Wilt “seemed to specialize dealing with older folks.”

He thinks naming the training room for Wilt is a great idea.

“I suggested to Marie the board consider naming it the Pete Wilt Training Room. We’ll see where that goes,” he said.

He noted that on May 30 a ceremony was held naming the center the Cathy Mahoney Recreation Center, 4500 Belmont Road.

Mahoney was instrumental in getting the center built and served on the park board from 2005 to 2023 in various roles. Naming the training room for Wilt would be up to the park board, Klaus said.

Klaus said Wilt made her feel welcome from the day she started working there in October 2023.

“He had seen several supervisors in his day, being there 22 years, but he always told me ‘you’re doing such a great job.’ “

“That made me feel good. It meant a lot to me because (this job) was something I’d never done before. That’s something I’ll always remember,” Klaus said.