Pete immigrated to America and worked on the railroad with his father and brothers. After his father returned to Greece in 1917, Pete went to Chicago to enter the restaurant business with a friend. It seems Pete became a loner. He never tried farming with his brothers in Wisconsin and never went back to Savanna, Illinois to be near his brothers, John and Louie.

Pete exhibited the traveling gene which runs through the family and moved to Los Angeles, California. He displayed a rather odd personality and had odd habits. Pete claims he became an educated man and mastered the English language by going to American movies every day.

This son of Demetrius made his own search for a better life. No one really knows what he found during his search. Pete Ballas never married and lived life on his own terms. He died in 1975, at the age of eighty three. In death, Pete is back with his family. His body was laid to rest near his brother, Bill, in Santa Barbara, California.