Friday, February 9, 2024
Dear Louise and family,
Lorrane and I were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Bob. We are presently in Florida, and the notice was forward to us by my sister, Anne.
Of all my friends during 'growing-up' and 'early-adult' years, Bob was probably my closest friend, even though we didn't live near each other. It actually began when we were both seven years old.
My mother and Bob's mother, Gertrude, were friends, and my mother learned that Gertrude had enrolled little Bobby in a summer boys' camp at Phillips Lake, run by Dana Dougerty, a teacher and football coach at Brewer High School. Dana had a 1936 Chevrolet sedan which he had modified by removing the back seat and replacing it with two benches, enabling him to cram 8 to 10 young boys into the car, to take us to his day-camp at Phillips, Lake, Monday thru Friday, every other week for four weeks, where he first taught us to swim, row a boat, go on long hikes, and engage many varied adventures.. One that I remember was a hike to the'Teachers' Colony, a group of vacant cabins used on occasion for some sort of summer courses. We were free to roam,there, but he warned us to stick together- otherwise we might be caught and carried off by 'Three-fingered Willy', never to be seen again! We stuck together like glue! Just a lesson that Dana taught us. We went to his camp each summer until we reached the age of 12.
Bob and his parents moved to the east side of Bangor, while I grew up on the west side, so didn't have much contact with Bob until high school. That's when we got involved with a few others...Bob Gammons, Larry Largay, Dale Anthony in spring fishing trips to dozens of local lakes and Ponds, and especially to Moose River, and fall hunting forays for partridge and deer, one frequent trip being to the Cust camp at Boyd Lake. Those were fun weekends.
I think it was in the '60's when group scuba diving lessons were being taught at the YMCA by a local diving club, the Maine Sub-Aqua club. Bob and I joined, and became avid divers, especially in the ocean surrounding Mt. Desert Island, and Schoodic Point. We also ended up being the main teachers, and added new members to the club. We not only dived during the summer, but also occasionally for scallops in the winter. Once a man approached us who was a writer for Skin Diver' Magazine, a national magazine, who wanted to do an article on seals, common on the coast. Our group included one guy that owned a lobster boat, so we took him to the west side of Mount Desert Island. where we all dived while he filmed. Then, we heard Bob holler, and saw him wading ashore, holding a lobster...a monster! It had to be at least two feet in length, and must have weighed twenty-five pounds. Really, no kidding! I believe that Bob, holding that lobster, appeared on the cover of the next issue of that magazine . Talk about a fish story!
As we grew older, our interests changed. I gave up hunting and diving, so our get-togethers gradually turned to occasional coffees together. I am only four months younger than Bob, so one day soon I hope we all meet again, when we'll probably hash over our lifetime exploits...exaggerated, I'm sure!
God bless you, and your family, Louise.
John and Lorraine Frawley
