DESTIN – As the funeral procession slowed to roll across the Marler Bridge on Tuesday morning, a dozen boat captains held their boats steady in a stiff wind.
All but one faced the top of the bridge as the hearse carrying Captain Harold Horst Loeffler passed. His boat, the Un Reel, faced the opening of the Destin Pass.
Loeffler’s wife, Becky, had asked Un Reel’s captain to put the boat in pass. Other captains took it upon themselves to do the same as the avid fisherman and longtime charter boat captain passed for the final time, said Amy Wanora, a close family friend.
“She told me in tears, ‘I just want Harold to be able to say goodbye to his boat for his boat to say goodbye to him,” she said. “It was like him and his boat were communicating.”
Loeffler, who was 54, died Friday of complications from his long battle with cancer, according to Wanora. He had been cancer-free for five years, but was on a liver transplant list at the time of his death.
When the hearse neared the top of the bridge, boats sounded their horns in greeting.
Folks waiting at the cemetery in Destin heard the sound and knew Loeffler was on the bridge, Wanora said. Many started crying.
Loeffler grew up fishing local waters and is generally recognized as one of the best cobia fishermen in the area, his friends said.
Capt. Scott Robson, who was in his boat when the procession passed, said he’s been thinking about all the times they spent together growing up – fishing, riding around in Robson’s hot rod and just hanging out.
“We lost a great comrade and a fine captain,” he said. “But what a will to live – like no one I’ve ever seen. He was like Superman.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.