RACINE — A Racine business owner known for helping others in his community is now on the receiving end of overwhelming support following the tragic death of his father.
Zach Petersen has spent this holiday season traveling between Racine, where he lives and runs ZP Construction, and Arizona, where his father lived. Chad Petersen died after being attacked by another man in what Zach describes as an unexpected tragedy.
"One punch with brass knuckles ended my father's life prematurely. He was 55 years old," Petersen said.
Due to the distance, Zach and his sisters have been piecing together what happened while trying to be there for their father at the end of his life.
"We didn't know, because we're from Wisconsin. He's down there," Petersen said.
Petersen took multiple trips to Arizona, along with his sisters, as his father neared the end of his life.
"We flew everybody down to say goodbye," he said.
Despite managing these tragic events with his family during the holiday season, Petersen has continued his business's annual tradition of giving back to Racine families. He purchased and donated gifts to families at HALO, Racine's primary homeless shelter, for Christmas.
"I didn't want to stop what ZP does every year, right, just because I'm going through a personal situation," Petersen said. "And they still deserve a good Christmas."
For Petersen, it's an annual commitment with even greater meaning this year.
"It was something that blessed my heart," he said.
Now he's experiencing the community's support firsthand. A GoFundMe campaign to help with expenses like air travel, transporting his father's body to Racine, and funeral costs is more than halfway to its goal.
"It's just been a blessing like I never even imagined," said Petersen, who described the recent community outreach as "overwhelming."
The support has been especially meaningful for someone known as a giver in the Racine community.
"This has made me hungrier to do more," Petersen said. "To help more, to do more."
Petersen says any money raised beyond their GoFundMe goal will be donated back to the Racine community.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
