Sad News from Dynasty Marine

[dizzy]

I'm posting this along with my condolences to Heath's family. It was from Ginny.
Mitch



This week, we at Dynasty Marine have lost an irreplaceable part of our team, Diver Heath Laetari. We will miss him greatly. Please read the announcement below:

Heath Jens Laetari 28, Vice President of Dive Operations, Partner & Acquisition Manager for Dynasty Marine Associates, Inc., Marathon, Florida, was lost at sea on Thursday, September 14th, doing what he loved to do. Heath was born in Wichita, Kansas on July 5, 1978. At age 3 months, he took his first swim lesson at the YMCA with Mom & Dad. After moving to rural Sedgewick County, he attended St. Marks Grade School, and at age 13 earned his PADI open water diver certification and fell in love with the ocean. He went on to Andale High in Andale, Kansas where he lettered in wrestling, football, and track, and earned his lifeguard certificate, graduating in 1996. In 1997 he took additional training to earn his PADI dive master rating and began work on his degree in Marine Biology at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. He completed work on his degree at Nova Southeastern, Dania, Florida. In 2001, Heath accepted a position with Dynasty Marine Associates, a global supplier for live Carribean ocean life in Marathon. In 2003, after much additional training from Dynasty personnel and others, he was promoted to Vice President of Dive Operations, and later became Acquisition Manager. In 2004, Heath met the love of his life Summer Boggs, whom he married on May 20th of this year.

Heath is survived by his wife Summer of Marathon; Goddaughter Katie Black of Marathon; Grandfather E.O. Laetari of Wichita, Kansas; The only son of Val & Jane Laetari of Goddard, Kansas / Marathon, Florida; Patti Boggs & David Oser, Mother-and-Father-In-Law of Marathon; very close dive associates: Forrest Young, Ben Daughtry, Larry Wright, Frankie Young and Bucky Wile, along with the rest of the Dynasty Marine Team; and a long list of Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews and close friends scattered in at least 7 states.

A celebration of Heath’s life will be held at 6:00 pm on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at Curry Hammock State Park, Mile Marker 56.2. Donations in lieu of flowers to Dynasty Marine / Heath Laetari Memorial Fund, 10602 7th Avenue Gulf, Marathon, FL, 33050. Additional service in Kansas to be announced.

Please have your thoughts with his family and friends at this time. Due to the situation we will be closed for shipping this week. I will be in and out of the office this week, however so if you have any questions please call. I may not answer or return your call right away but please be patient as I will get back to you. We will begin shipping again next week. Please remember that we will need you, our clients, the most in the following months to help Dynasty Marine continue on during this difficult time.

 

[WayneSallee]

I wonder what happened.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets
[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s060917.html

 

[nanocat]

Wow, when I first read Laetari I thought "gee unusual name, I've only heard it once before". Sure enough, Heath's father was in my grade school in Wichita. If the son was anything like the dad, it's a great loss of a wonderful guy

Condolences to the family.

 

[spawner]

Diver remains missing Friday

By Jessica Machetta [email protected]
Posted-Friday, September 15, 2006 7:28 PM EDT

Dive community stunned by news of Heath Laetari

Heath Laetari, 28, of Marathon disappeared while free diving in waters off Islamorada Thursday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Coast Guard.

The search continued late into Friday with no success.

According to a report filed by Deputy Johnny Perez, witnesses say Laetari was on a boat with three other men 7 to 9 miles offshore of Islamorada. One of the men reportedly said Laetari decided not to do the dive and was going to stay in the boat because of trouble with a contact lens.

Perez reports one witness said he'd been in the water about half an hour when he saw Laetari swimming nearby around 2 p.m., saw him dive down a bit, swimming away from him, and that was the last he saw of him.

Reportedly, the witness said about a half an hour later they attempted to signal Laetari in the boat to send down a line and bring up some equipment. The witness said Laetari didn't respond, so one diver went to the surface and found the boat empty.

After finishing their decompression stop, the other divers reportedly boarded and notified the Coast Guard.

Ensign Michael Bell told the Keynoter late Friday that the Coast Guard was still actively searching with the help of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission both on the water and from the air.

Laetari is well known as an expert within the local dive industry, and other dive professionals, captains and pilots quickly joined the search.

 

[morepunkthanewe]

A good friend of mine that knows all of the folks at Dynasty recalled this to me regarding what happened. It's brief, but a bit more specific than the other articles. I can't imagine diving to 300 ft, I definately don't have the cohones for that. I don't even have the cohones (or lungs) to free dive to 60 feet. I wonder what they were after. Perhaps some of the deep-water butterflies or basslets.

"Forrest and Ben were doing a 300 foot dive, Heath was working topside and Larry was the safety diver hanging at 60 feet. While Ben and Forrest were at the 60 ft deco stop, Heath free dived down to take up some gear. He was never seen again."

I never really got to know Heath, but I do remember him as being in extremely good shape and always having a smile on his face. This is a tragic loss, and a testament to the inherant danger of collecting the deep water ornamentals.

 

[hmeadows]

My heart is heavy for the family. I am a good friend of Summer, Heath's wife. I worked with her in marathon, FL. They were such kind people and offered me a place to stay during a possible job transition to Dynasty Marine. Please send a donation to Heath's memorial fund. The address is on Dynasty Marine website.

Heather

 

[ginnyfish]

This is Ginny from Dynasty Marine. I wanted to thank everyone for your kind words. Heath was an amazing person and an even more amazing diver and collector. The Dynasty Marine family now has a huge hole, in our team and in our hearts. We miss him very much. From what we know every safety procedure was followed. We may never know exactly what happened down there. Diving is a very dangerous sport and has unfortunately claimed another life. We are creating a living memorial to Heath in the public aquariums around the country. We will be posting plaques near the Caribbean exhibits. The fish Heath caught which are swimming in those exhibits will be a living memorial to Heath for many years. The memorial fund will also likely be used for a scholarship for those pursuing marine biology as a career. We appreciate all of your condolences and donations. Please visit our website for more information. Thank you. www.dynastymarine.net