Last farewell for 3 fishermen Mourners gather in Jonesport, share memories of trio taken by sea

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JONESPORT – More than 700 people gathered at Jonesport-Beals High School on Wednesday to say goodbye to three area fishermen who drowned after their boat was swamped by a large wave during last Thursday’s storm.

Tears and occasional laughter marked the three-hour memorial service for Dawson E. Allen, 22, of Jonesport, Michael Anthony Laytart, 39 of Addison and Dwayne Smith, 21, of Jonesport.

“There is hope in our hearts today,” said the Rev. Steve Bertrand of the United Pentecostal Church of Jonesport. “Our friends are not lost. We know where they are.”

All the men were active members of Bertrand’s church, and he officiated at Wednesday’s funeral.

Last Thursday, the three fishermen spent the morning dragging for mussels near Roque Island. They were returning to port when Smith’s 35-foot stern boat, The Little Raspy, overturned in choppy seas between Bar and Ballast islands in Chandler Bay.

Smith was talking by cell phone to his uncle Ralph Smith, the owner of Moosabec Mussels Inc., when the accident occurred.

Ralph Smith called the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Jonesport, which dispatched a search and rescue boat, but there was no sign of the fishermen.

The Coast Guard found The Little Raspy with its bow sticking out of the water and its stern submerged. Life jackets and a life raft were among the debris in the water, but there was no sign of the three men.

The Maine Marine Patrol, the Coast Guard and local fishermen battled high seas and a snowstorm that turned to sleet in an effort to find the three, but the search was fruitless.

Allen’s body washed up onto shore at close to 9 p.m. Thursday and was discovered by a Beals man who stayed on Popplestone Beach after about 100 local searchers had given up for the night.

The search for Smith and Laytart began again the next morning and divers for the Maine Marine Patrol-state police dive team, a pilot for the Maine State Police, the Coast Guard and local fishermen spent another unsuccessful day on the waters of Chandler Bay.

The next morning, Rodney Dame, Dwayne Smith’s best friend and an urchin diver for Smith’s uncle William, found the bodies of Smith and Laytart in the area where authorities believe the boat capsized.

Bertrand and others who spoke during Thursday’s service described the three men who’d “been taken before their time” and the “wonderful, caring, loving community” that came together to help the families they left behind.

“It is indescribable, the feeling that went over this community as word began to spread about what had happened,” Bertrand said. “Men went down to the shore and many began praying.”

The three men, whose caskets lay open at the front of the packed gymnasium, were described by representatives chosen by their families. Some were members of the church. Others were relatives or family friends.

Allen had a way of making people laugh, no matter what the circumstances or how hard you tried not to break up, they said. His own laugh was contagious.

A skilled impersonator who frequently imitated Ralph Smith because he loved him so much, Allen was also “sensitive to the spirit of the Lord,” said a church member who identified himself as Brother Vincent.

Allen leaves his wife, Dawn, and daughter, Taylor, who is just over a year old. His daughter was always in his lap and they’d watch children’s TV programs together. He would sing children’s songs from those shows to his friends.

Laytart was from Nashua, N.H. He and his wife, Pam, – a Jonesport woman he married in 1991 – moved to Addison in 1998 with their two children.

He leaves a 6-year-old son, Anthony, and a 4-year-old daughter, Charity Joy.

Brother Vincent said Laytart was “a card” and loved his wife very much, treating her as his best friend. He was a hard worker, a good provider and a wonderful father, others said.

Laytart’s wife, Pam, read a wedding poem she’d given her husband, telling Michael her love for him “would never be finished.”

Dwayne Smith had “a wonderful spirit and lived life with gusto,” Bertrand said.

A champion Bible quizzer who won state and national contests, he also loved fishing, motorcycles, Rook tournaments and hunting.

“He liked living on the edge and went at life with everything he had, but he always put God first,” Bertrand said.

Bertrand quoted from the 107th Psalm, a copy of which he said Smith had given his mother when he decided to make fishing his life.

“Some sailed to the sea in ships to trade in the mighty waters,” Bertrand said. “These men have seen the Lord in deeds, the wonders he does in the deep.”

The men were buried in private ceremonies after Wednesday’s service.