Probably one of the few Delta Sigs born in Anchorage, Alaska, Pete Winemiller has spent a majority of his life in the Northwest after being raised in the Washington, D.C. area.
Pete enrolled at Washington State University (Wazzu) in Pullman, Washington in 1976 ready for the college experience. He knew a career in sports was for him, and Wazzu allowed him to study Parks Administration & Recreation Programming. Upon arriving at Wazzu, Pete participated in the fraternity recruitment process. Back then, potential recruits were “housed” in fraternities during recruitment. Pete’s house happened to be Delta Sigma Phi’s Gamma Delta Chapter. He originally thought Delta Sig wasn’t for him, but after talking to new Delta Sig pledges also participating in the recruitment process, he joined and initiated in 1977.
Gamma Delta Chapter had a lot of potential for growth and development when Pete pledged. He and his chapter brothers put tireless hours into making the chapter and community stronger. During Pete’s upperclassmen years, he was awarded Greek Man of the Year, Outstanding Senior at Washington State, and was runner up for what is now known as the E. Allen James Outstanding Delta Sigma Phi Undergraduate Award. Winning awards wasn’t all that Delta Sig gave Pete. The Fraternity opened doors to all kinds of leadership and campus opportunities. His days at Gamma Delta allowed him to develop skills for building and maintaining relationships – skills that are a necessity everyday.
Pete has stayed true to his education since graduating from Wazzu. His first employment opportunity was with SEAFAIR, a large-scale festival organization in Seattle. Upon leaving SEAFAIR, he accepted an opportunity with the Portland Rose Festival Association before eventually returning to SEAFAIR as the Associate Managing Director. Since departing the festival & special event industry, Pete has worked for the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics & WNBA's Seattle Storm starting in 1995. He was hired as the Director of Sales Development and has worked his way up to Vice President of Guest Relations, where he works with customers (referred to as Guests in the organization) to create loyal fans. Like many Delta Sigs, Pete believes he wouldn’t be with the Sonics today if it weren’t for Delta Sigma Phi. Specifically, two Gamma Delta brothers who were the catalyst in assisting him land his first job after graduation were Randy Maurer (Washington State ’75) and Mitch Maurer (Washington State ’78).
Through all of his talents, Pete has given back to the Fraternity in several ways. First, in 1979, he was hired by Allen James to serve as Delta Sigma Phi Foundation’s first intern. Second, he served as a District Governor and volunteered his time to assist chapters in the Northwest.
When recalling his most fond Fraternity memory, Pete noted the friendships he has maintained with other chapter brothers that started during his undergraduate days at Gamma Delta – friendships that have been very important to him over his adult life.
Pete stated that former Fraternity Executive Director, Allen James was an influential person in Pete’s life. “I always looked up to Allen. He was a man who carried himself well and was passionate about his work,” Pete said.
His advice for Delta Sig undergrads is, “if you can leave the Fraternity with one or two relationships you can maintain for a lifetime, that could be your single biggest investment; you can’t buy a special friendship.”
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