Memorial
service information is at the end of this story.
Oriental
lost long time resident and boatyard owner Bob Deaton on Tuesday.
Bob suffered a heart attack Monday night and died early Tuesday
at the hospital in New Bern. He was 52.
Bob Deaton (left) with his brother John. |
Bob was
co-owner - with his brother John - of Deaton Yacht Service.
The boatyard celebrated its 25th anniversary this past year.
Bob founded
the company in 1979 after moving to Oriental from Greensboro
- he was then in his 20’s. His father and brother soon
joined him in the business.
Fiancee
Skylar Sykes, daughter Brooke, son Jake and Bob Deaton.
|
“His
love of boats brought him to the coast,” said Linda McLean
of Deaton Yacht Service. “He started the business out
of the back of a van.”
Bob with son Jake |
Like other
employees at Deaton Yachts, Linda was at work on Tuesday. The
company was open for business she said, “because that’s
the way he would have wanted it.”
“He will be sorely missed.”
Bob Deaton had been playing basketball with his teenaged son
Monday night when he suffered chest pains. He had initially
thought they may have been the result of some medication he
was taking.
As word of Bob Deaton’s sudden death spread through Oriental
Tuesday, it was often followed by people noting how healthy
and fit Bob had seemed. People recalled that he worked out and
was health conscious. Or as Linda McLean put it, “No smoking.
No fatty food. And exercise, exercise, exercise.”
Deaton Yacht Service
employee George Midyette noted Wednesday "We all got together
at work and asked each other how we could help the family. We
decided that what Bob would have wanted and what the family
needed was for us to work hard and do our jobs. Its difficult,
but that's what we're doing."
A memorial wreath at the entrance to Deaton Yacht Service |
The sign at Croakertown on Broad St. |
Bob Deaton
leaves a daughter, Brooke, 15 and son Jake, who is 13 and his
fiancee, Skyler Sykes. He is also survived by his mother, Fran
Deaton Bennett, stepfather Truett Bennett, brothers John and
Bill, and three sisters, Beth, Susan and Ann. His father, Ralph
Deaton passed away several years ago.
There will be a Thursday night visitation from 7 - 9pm at
the Kennedy House, 704 Hodges Street (near Midyette Street).
The
memorial service is Friday at 2pm at Oriental Methodist Church.
The
family is asking that no flowers be sent, but rather a charitable
donation be made in Bob's memory to one of these local charities:
Oriental
First Responders
(Checks should be made to South East Pamlico
First Responders)
PO Box 429, Oriental, 28571
The Dottie Gray Ambulance Fund
772 Bent Tree Road, Oriental, NC 28571
