Sophomore was ‘always smiling’

Peter Duong’s high school friend Destiny Crum remembers one of his video posts on Facebook of him dancing to “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry.

“I would text him whenever it was on the radio,” Crum said. “It made me laugh.”

Duong, who was hit and killed by a car Wednesday, is remembered by his friends for his great sense of humor, his smiling face, his dance moves and hard work-ethic.

His close friends say that Duong enjoyed dancing and was talented.

“Last weekend he had a dance off,” said freshman Claire VanLandingham, Duong’s friend since sixth grade. “I was wetting my pants. It was the funniest thing I ever saw.”

Aside from dancing, Duong played piano and guitar.

Duong was a biochemistry and French major, but he still made time to have fun with friends.

“We used to eat at Wright for hours and hours,” said sophomore Megan Shafer and close friend since middle school.

“We would eat lunch and dinner during one sitting. Even though he had major projects and finals, if his friends needed him he would be with them for hours.”

Although he was the “life of the party,” Duong was a good student, VandLandingham said.

“We used to go to math during lunch and work on math problems,” VandLandingham said of their middle school years together.

Duong’s high school U.S. history teacher, Dave Heath, had him for two trimesters and said he was an Advanced Placement student.

“He was a good kid,” Heath said. “He was just a pleasure. He was interested in his studies and at least for me, he was a hardworker.”

As an employee at Gresham Food Court, his hard work ethic impressed his bosses despite working there for just four to five weeks.

On Wednesday, right before the accident, the manager of Gresham Food Court gave him three tasks to do before he clocked out, and he got all of them done quickly and efficiently, said Susan Jacob, assistant manager of Gresham Food Court.

“He always had a smile on his face,” Jacob said. “And I knew this because he had braces, and I knew he had braces because he was always smiling.”

Duong was well liked among his classmates and found
friends fast.

“He was extremely, extremely popular among his fellow students,” Heath said. “I never heard a kid say one bad thing.”

Duong’s younger brother, Patrick, said he and his brother were close.

“He was the best brother I ever could have asked for,” Patrick Duong said. “He was always there for me whenever I needed to talk to him.”

Heath said it is hard for everybody to come to terms with Duong’s death.

“I wish I could jump into my car and drive to Bloomington,” Heath said, “and hug my former students. I know that it is hard for them, but it is hard for us too.”