Peter Stephen Probst age 78, of Boynton Beach, Florida, passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2026.

Peter was born on December 14, 1947 in Island Park, NY to John Probst and Katherine Probst (née Riley). He was the youngest of the ten Probst children. Growing up, he attended Island Park Elementary and graduated from Oceanside High School.

Peter married Veronica Probst (née Dixon), with whom he had his three daughters: Sophia “Tania”, Natalie, and Megan. He is survived by his wife, Janet Probst (née Lyn), with whom he shared his later years.

Throughout his life, Peter had many work-interests: he was extremely proud of having been a steam-fitter like his father before him, and of having worked on the World Trade Center and the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. He was also a Businessman, a Restaurateur at “The Palace” and then at “Rick’s Café”, an “Inn-keeper” (as he called himself when he ran “Natania’s Guest House”), a home-builder and land-developer on “Tropical Sunshine Properties”.

After evolving away from steam-fitting, although Peter was unusually productive, he didn’t “work” in the careerist sense of that word. Instead, he took pleasure in creating and fixing things. He was a builder, but typically he avoided the work-boots, and was to be found most often in shorts and flip-flops. He would at various times paint or draw a picture, or latterly, design a house while sitting at his table or swinging in his hammock.

He became a foundational part of transforming Negril, then a sleepy fishing village, into a tourism haven, but later, moved deeper into the countryside, because Negril “had too many tourists”. He then completely changed the landscape of Whitehouse, Westmoreland, Jamaica (his new hiding spot and retreat) by developing a vast scheme of upscale housing. As the town he built began to grow, he moved again. Peter was known for business foresight and acumen, a jack-of-all trades capability in construction, and respect for, and fair dealing with, his construction-crew. No matter how successful he became, he always considered himself “a working man”.

He and his friends created Rick’s Café: part business, part tourist-attraction, part Negril-rite-of-passage, part iconic Jamaican national landmark. It draws huge crowds to cliff-dive and watch sunsets. It is considered one of the finest spots in the Caribbean, and shows up regularly in Jamaica’s popular culture, most notably in Tyrone Taylor’s 1983 reggae hit song “Cottage in Negril”.

However deep into rural Jamaica Peter might move to escape the crowds, his movies and television shows were non-negotiable necessities. Certain movies just had to be watched over and over again (Casablanca; Moonstruck; It’s A Wonderful Life; A Bronx Tale).

Like Rick Blaine of Casablanca, he could appear guarded, even cynical. But also like Casablanca’s Rick, he was at heart, an inveterate romantic. One key difference: Rick never drank with his guests—Peter, also famously, drank them under the table.

Peter was always a New Yorker, and this was most evident in the evenings when it was time to wind down by turning to ‘Seinfeld’ or ‘Law & Order’. And every guest at Natania’s (named after his daughters) was treated to Jeopardy and the Yankees and Giant games.

To understand Peter you had to know that he was a serious Hippy in the 60’s, who loved the energy and music of his youth, and kept it humming in the background as he went about his days. He would proudly announce to his grandsons that while the Vietnam War raged, he chose to “defend the homeland”. He was at Woodstock. He lived in the West Village. He passed through Haight-Ashbury with the other Hippies. Eventually, Peter and his friends decamped in Jamaica… and he stayed. He regretted none of it.

A proud American, Peter also loved Jamaica, but moreso, Jamaican people. Over time “Mista Peta” was known by tens of thousands; befriended by many hundreds; and became family to many.

He delighted in the colorfulness of Jamaicans; he noted (not always with approval) their sometimes odd behaviors and beliefs; and he luxuriated in their warmth and quirkiness. Jamaicans, for their part, accepted him. It is no overstatement or exaggeration at all to say that he is legendary in those parts.

One of his favorite stories about the early days in Negril – and there were so many – was of showing the movie “King Kong” in the then sleepy fishing village where there was barely any AM radio-reception. Some of the locals, unaccustomed to the conventions of the movies, began pelting the screen with bottles whenever the giant Gorilla appeared! For their part, the older locals tell stories of the crazy long-haired Hippy nudists who descended on their town, and some of the hardy few who stayed, married, and planted roots.

Peter loved sailing and boating, and a big part of his personality was that of a sailorman temporarily stuck on land. As such, he spent many hours of each day swinging, and napping, in his custom-built hammock to mimic the gentle rocking of the ocean. Also like a sailorman, it was his habit to awaken before dawn to overlook the ocean and greet the rising sun with coffee in hand. It was his time of meditation and solitude.

Peter was charismatic and people were drawn to him (sometimes to his dismay). He was a fantastic storyteller, and when the occasion arose or allowed, would have any audience laughing through tears with his unique perspective on growing up as the last of ten children in the chaotic Probst household, or with recounting the childhood exploits of his gang of friends in Island Park, or with the riotous teenage hijinks of coming of age in 1960’s.

Peter was a devoted husband to Janet, with whom he continued his adventure-filled life past retirement and re-settling back in the United States. He was proud to have walked all three of his daughters down the aisle, most recently Megan in December 2024. And after raising and protecting his three daughters, he enjoyed having three grandsons. So he was an active and involved grandpa, taking “his boys” on unforgettable adventures: skiing, cruising, camping, road-tripping, fishing, whitewater rafting.

Peter Probst was that rare man who took the love of freedom and adventure seriously, who lived by the lights of his own North-Star, and who preferred to apologize than to ask permission. In typical style, he gave his own obituary and rendered his own verdict: As his health declined and he could barely speak, his daughter Tania asked him if he had had a good life? He replied emphatically: “I’ve had a (expletive) GREAT life!”

Peter Probst is survived by his wife Janet; his three daughters, Sophia “Tania”, Natalie, and Megan; his grandsons Daniel “Nicholas”, Aaron, and Joshua; his great-grandaughters Sophia and Anna (expected); his sons-in-law Daniel and Leo; his siblings Patricia, Thomas, and Eugene; and scores of nieces, nephews, and other relatives.

Peters' Visitation will be on Friday, April 10th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Boynton Memorial Chapel. All are invited to join us immediately following the visitation for drinks, food, and time together at Janet and the late Peter Probst’s Home, 5358 Vernio Lane, Boynton Beach, FL 33437 4:30 pm.

The Funeral Mass for Peter will be celebrated at 10:00 am, on Monday, April 13, 2026, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Please follow THIS LINK for the livestream.

Peters' interment will follow immediately at Pompano Beach City Cemetery.

You are warmly invited to join us immediately following the interment for a repast and time to share memories together. All are welcome. Kindly RSVP using the link HERE if you plan to attend, so that we may plan accordingly.

Flowers are welcome, or donations may be made in his memory to CurePSP