FINDLAY, Ohio — The body of 21-year-old Samuel Ickes, Jr., was recovered from Lake Erie Sunday, five days after he fell overboard near South Bass Island.
His father Samuel Ickes, Sr., described his last week as an unending nightmare. The family was relieved his body was recovered, but the incident was devastating nonetheless.
"It was a relief that we could bring him home," Ickes, Sr., said. "It also tore your heart out."
Ickes, Sr., spent Monday making funeral arrangements for his son. Just seven days before that, his son, who he couldn't be prouder of, was alive.
"He was a really smart kid. I mean, he was one of the smartest kids that was actually out there," Ickes, Sr., said.
Ickes, Jr., used those smarts working as a handyman to provide for his girlfriend and their two children.
In his spare time, he fixed up a 27-foot boat. Once finished, he took it out on Lake Erie with friends to celebrate his success. But Ickes, Sr., said the boat was hit by sudden bad weather on the way back, knocking his son overboard.
"I heard he was going to the side of the boat to use the bathroom and a wave hit him and threw him over," Ickes, Sr, said.
He was pulled into the strong current and the boat soon lost sight of him.
The U.S. Coast Guard and other vessels searched miles of lake and shore in the following days, and Ickes, Sr., held out hope his son would be found alive.
"Keep telling yourself it's not true, he's a strong swimmer," Ickes, Sr., said. "Just hoping he made it to one of the islands."
When the U.S. Coast Guard found Ickes, Jr.'s, body in the water, he became the second son Ickes, Sr., had lost, after his son, Donovan, took his own life four years earlier.
"It's a different hurt," Ickes, Sr., said of losing a child. "I mean, everybody expects to bury their grandparents. Children bury the parents."
Now all they have left are photos and memories of the golden moments they shared. Ickes, Sr., said to hold your loved ones close because you never know when they will leave you.
"You've got to take it day by day, and wake up and appreciate what you have in front of you," he said.
Ickes, Jr., had two siblings, a half sibling and 2 children of his own, all grieving in their own ways. His open showing will happen Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Harold-Floriana Funeral Home in Fostoria. His funeral will be held at the Church of the Nazarene, also in Fostoria, at 11 a.m. Friday. Ickes, Sr., said all are welcome.