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ave Gerdeman lived in the Oriental area for about half a decade and spent much of that time volunteering with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The vice commander for the local flotilla 2003, Dave was the staff officer in charge of safety inspections.

In conversation, and in his gentle way, Dave would suggest that your boat could use a look-over. As his friend and fellow Auxiliary member Paul Del Rio puts it, “Dave wanted everyone to have their boat inspected. He tirelessly gave huge amounts of time to boating safety.”

That has made the circumstances of Dave’s death on Sunday all the more difficult for those who knew him. Dave drowned after the boom of his sailboat hit him in the head and knocked him in to the waters of the Neuse River near Broad Creek. Onboard the Gerdeman’s 35 Irwin sailboat, he had been out sailing with his wife Care and with Paul & Rose Del Rio.

One moment Dave was making an adjustment forward on the boat. The next he was coming back to the cockpit when the boom hit his head, knocking him in to the water. Paul leapt in to the water, and got Dave back to the side of the boat, but reviving him was not possible.

It has been, says Paul Del Rio, “like a bad dream.”

Dave Gerdeman was born on January 11, 1949 and grew up in Ohio. A graduate of Ohio University, he served in the US Navy and retired from the US Civil Service. He and Carolyn had been married more than thirty years and moved to Oriental after he retired, about 6 years ago. They built a house on Brown’s Creek.

“He was a gentle, softspoken, warm man. He never had an unkind word for anyone,” Paul Del Rio says of his friend.

Paul also calls Dave, “the consummate sailor.” When Paul delivered boats up and down the East Coast, Dave worked as first mate. “He traveled thousands of miles with me on offshore deliveries.”

Back at home, Dave devoted a lot of time and energy to getting more boats inspected for safety.

A few weeks ago, he also dropped a line here, asking if anyone locally was getting a bus organized to take people to the “Rally to Restore Sanity” in Washington, DC next Saturday, October 30.

In addition to his wife Care, Dave leaves two daughters, Carly Young and Paula Gerdeman, one brother Richard Gerdeman of Rockford, Illinois and his four sisters, Betty Cox, Nancy Crow, Wendy Mangas and Kathy Schumaker, all of Lima, Ohio.

Friends and family are gathering on Friday, October 22 at the Del Rio’s Paradise Cove Marina at 4p for a celebration of Dave’s life. In keeping with the potluck tradition at the marina where Dave could often be found, attendees are asked to bring a little something to eat. (And also a drink, as the bar is closed for the season and not stocked.)

Dave’s family is asking that instead of flowers, contributions be sent to U.S.C.G. Aux., Flotilla 2003, P.O. Box 1060, Oriental, NC 28571.

Posted Friday October 22, 2010 by Melinda Penkava