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This is a story I hope won't happen too many times in anyone's life.

We trained a guy several years ago that proved to be a great student and developed into a great diver. In our business, as I may have stated, we deal with all types of personalities, and we develop into being quite good at psychology. As all stories go this was past the unusual. Dave became friends with one of our instructor staff after a trip to La Paz, Mexico. Dave took several more courses from his new friend and became a rescue diver. Dave was a great person, as far as we knew.

We also knew he had problems in the service, but we all did to some extent. This didn't bother us. But we were definitely surprised. Dave had another side, which we never saw here in Albuquerque. It appears that Dave had some problems at work. He lived out of town, and he was accused of stealing money from his work. I guess he was really distressed because Dave took his life. This really took us back!

The story only begins. Shortly, Dave's parents came to the store. I was totally unaware of what was going on at this time. The parents approached our instructor - Dave's new friend - and asked him if he would be willing to take Dave's cremains to La Paz. Well our instructor agreed. I remind you I was unaware of this. In due process the parents brought Dave's cremains to the store, along with his death certificate, and a visa, mind you, to take Dave to Mexico.

Dave's Urn Box

One day, shortly after, I discovered a wooden box. Of course I inquired around as to what it was. I had my suspicions, only due to my previous experiences. Oh, I guess I never stated that my Dad was a mortician at one time. We use to play hide-and-seek in the casket room. Also, I drove an ambulance for a time. When I asked the instructor what the box was, he told me the story. Well I thought that's OK. A short time later I had to fire the instructor, and now I had a problem. What to do with Dave.

In the meantime the parents never called to ask if Dave was taken care of. They even came into the store to trade a BC, but never did they ask about Dave. We had not planned to go to La Paz for a year or two. So now what? So now Dave became a fixture in my office.

One night when Darlene and I left the store Darlene said, as we went out the door, "Good night Dave." That cracked me up. Dave became a humorous side to our life. Of course many jokes started like - Dave won't have much trouble going under now - he's full of lead - you know how it goes. Also, sometimes I would get to the store and find snorkels on the floor, among other things. Of course I blamed Dave. One instructor stated Dave was taking care of the security chores.

A year passed. His parents never showed to see if we took care of Dave. This was very disgusting to us that the parents cared less, and placed a burden on the store. One day I opened the box to check inside. I was curious as to what really was inside. I feared that maybe some foreign substance was placed inside that could get us in trouble with the law, especially crossing the border. Nothing but bone fragments, thank you. Another year passed and I had to do something. I knew we would never take him into Mexico.

So, Darlene and I made a decision. We would put him in a lake in New Mexico that he was familiar with. One day Darlene and I got our dive gear and headed to the lake of choice. We both had mixed emotions. Where were his parents? We ended up at the lake and suited up. We took Dave out of the box and went into the water. We went under and ended up at a depth of approximately 55 feet.

At this point I took out my knife and slit the plastic bag. Darlene and I then pushed the bag as deep as we could, into the silt, and started releasing Dave. We completed that task and placed two lapel pins (a PADI pin, and Watersports pin) with Dave. We then went to the surface. It was a very solemn occasion at this time. We were the only ones at his funeral.

When we finished taking off our equipment and drying off and putting on warm clothes, we went to the side of the lake. Darlene had brought a bible and a rose. We picked the peddles off the rose and threw them into the water. Then I read a passage out of the bible, specially chosen for Dave. Well it took some time for us to get back our composure. We still had to get rid of the box. We took care of it in short order. You can bet your boots we didn't talk much during the ride back to Albuquerque. A tough assignment for both of us.

Dave is now resting where he liked it the most. In the water where he can be with the fish and other divers.