Memorialized in Stone

One of my photos has been memorialized in stone. This is an overdue update to a photo I originally posted on August 31, 2012 entitled, Angling In a Fog. The story behind this photo is full of surprises…of sadness…of fond memories…of lasting honor.

I encourage you to read the story below (originally posted last Father’s Day), but here are a few facts to peak your interest.

The original photo was taken on a foggy morning in Algoma, WI. At the time, I didn’t know anything about the fisherman on the pier. I liked the image and posted it online. Months later, the fisherman’s family contacted me because they recognized the man.  He was a life-long resident of the area – a husband, father and recently deceased. Turns out, I knew him also.  He was a high school classmate of mine – Dale Kintopf.

I’m bringing it up again because, sometime ago, Dale’s family sent me the photo below.  They felt my photo captured the essence of Dale’s life and spirit so perfectly, they had the image incorporated into his grave stone.

Now, read the details below.

A heart-tugging story for this Father’s Day weekend…

(Originally posted June 15, 2013)

This morning I received notice of an order placed for the photo you see above. The order information doesn’t reveal who the buyer is, but it does tell me their city. This one was purchased by a local buyer. I’m pretty sure I know who bought it. In fact, they brought three prints. Here’s the story….

This photo was taken in August of 2012. I went to the Algoma, WI harbor to, hopefully, capture a sunrise. When I got there, conditions were foggy. There wasn’t much to see, but I did notice this lone fisherman on the pier. I thought, with the foggy condition, it could make an interesting image, so I took several photos. I never got closer to the subject than you see here.

When I got home, I looked over the results of the morning, picked this photo as the best effort and posted it to my blog.

At the end of march, I received email from a woman interested in this photo, who knew the fisherman in the photograph. She had married into the fisherman’s family shortly after this photo was taken. She was contacting me because the fisherman’s son had stumbled upon this image somewhere on the internet and knew it was his father.

I didn’t know who the fisherman was. I never got close enough to ask so I wondered how the son was so sure. He was positive because, this was his father’s fishing spot – he was always there and, even though it was only a silhouette, the outline was unmistakable.

It turns out I knew the fisherman, too. He was a former Algoma High School classmate of mine, Dale Kintopf. I hadn’t had any contact with Dale in many years, but I remembered him well. He was one of the good guys.

Now, the heart-tugging part. Dale passed away, unexpectedly, last November. My eyes are welling with tears as I write this, thinking about his children experiencing the first Father’s Day…without their father.

I’m thankful I happened to be at the Algoma harbor on a foggy Saturday morning in August…with my camera. I’m glad the family found this image and that it will always serve as a poignant memory of the proud father, loving husband and true friend Dale was to those who knew him.

Let me wrap this up with a quote from Dale’s obituary: “Dale’s greatest joy in life was the time he spent fishing at the pier in Algoma, he took great pride in his catch and he looked forward to deer hunting season every year as well. He enjoyed vacationing with his family and friends. Dale was a loving husband, proud father of his two sons and the way he lived his life will be carried out through them.”