Peter Jay TeBeest

Peter Jay TeBeest, 61, Bismarck, died October 28, 2017. Peter was born on August 21, 1956, in Baldwin, Wisconsin, as the 4th son, 5th child of John Bernard and Anna TeBeest. Peter lived briefly in Ellendale, ND, but grew up in the Bismarck area. Since his teenage years and throughout all of his life Peter fought with schizophrenic mental illness. Only in the last 5 years did medication help create a balance in his thinking. Then he had to deal with knowing he had lost 40 years of his life, and finally he dealt with cancer. He died of natural causes. Those of us who knew Peter and liked him for who he was will miss him. We will grieve that he never got to experience being in love or having his own family, or the satisfaction of learning a vocation or holding a job, that he never got to travel and see amazing sites, and that he came back into life too late to experience so many things. However, he did have people around him who valued him and loved him. Which is more than some with mental illness have. And he was friendly to people who were open to him, he did laugh at life, and he wasn’t consumed with anger. For that, and for the gift of his love to us, we will remember Pete. He is survived by brothers, John G (Marie), Mandan, ND, Donald (Maylene) in Eureka, CA, Elton, Bismarck, ND,and Gary (Lori) in Grants Pass, OR; sisters, Beth (Bill) Calamas in Rockford, MI, and Juanita (Alvin) Braun in Menoken, ND. Peter was preceded in death by his father, John Bernard TeBeest and his mother, Anna (Nieuwsma) TeBeest. There will be no public funeral service.