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07/16/2003
Terrah Lee
Tim Walters died on Sunday July 13, 2003 doing what he loved most, racing an offshore Powerboat with his son at his side.
"My dad always said, when he dies, he wants to die full throttle with a smile on his face," said Mark Walters, son and throttleman of Tim Walters.
Tim, who recently turned 59 on July 7th, lived out his dreams of racing, all the way up to the final seconds of his life. The 1981 GLOPRA "Driver of the Year" recipient was behind the wheel of a 39' Chris Craft dubbed P5-88 Erie Stinger, when he suffered a heart attack in turn #1 of the GLSCS Mentor Harbor Offshore Classic. The race was in his hometown of Mentor, OH, near where Tim had grown up and first started boating. Walters son and throttleman, Mark, and navigator Scott Bratton, saw Tim disappeared from the wheel and slid down to the floor of the boat. Young Walters pulled back on the throttles and Bratton grabbed the wheel, turning safely into the center of the triangle shaped course.
"Mark immediately pulled off his helmet and crawled down to the floor to give his dad CPR, Mike St. Armand, who we had hired to take pictures of us, was overhead and I signaled to them that we had a medical emergency, then I got on the radio and informed race control, although I don't really remember what I said. Within seconds, safety personnel were there to take over," said Bratton, who joined Mark in CPR efforts before being relieved by Rich Schieferstein, who was also one of the first responders to the scene, according to Bratton and Walters.
Med #2 also arrived within moments and deployed paramedic/rescue diver Bill Lash, Director of the SCORE Team. Paula Lash, also a paramedic, was re-assigned to Med 2 as it was a quicker transport boat than Med 1, and she prepared to take Tim on board. At the same time, EMT Jamie Brooks swam to Erie Stinger, brought aboard some key medical equipment, and relieved Mark and Rich Schieferstein from their resuscitative efforts. Once Med boat 2 arrived at the dock, EMS received Tim, continued care and transported him to the hospital, according to a report from GLSCS Medical and Safety director, Bill Lash.
Despite desperate and urgent assistance from Mark and the rest of the GLSCS Medical team, Walters was pronounced dead at Lake West Hospital in Willoughby, Ohio.
"The GLSCS medical team and Race Officials did everything they could. I thank everyone and I especially wish to thank Jamie Brooks, she did an amazing job. Nobody could have done anything more or done anything different to change the outcome," said Mark.
Tim had suffered a mild heart attack nearly 6 years ago. Upon his return to racing, he received FAA/DOT physicals and as recently as this spring, had been examined again and cleared to race. He had been in good health and was not complaining of having any kind of pain the morning the morning of the incident according to Walters and Bratton.
Word of Tim's death traveled quickly among the offshore racing community and to Walters' friends and family. Condolences are being received from New York, Florida, and elsewhere about the country and the family is so grateful, according to Bratton.
"The support from our friends in the GLSCS, GLOPRA, our Yacht Club, and even people who we have only met in passing is so amazing that we can't put it into words. The mailbox is filling up so fast with letters of support and sympathy that we can't respond quick enough," said Bratton. A special thanks also needs to be extended to Kathy White, the race director of the Mentor Harbor Offshore Classic, for her help on Sunday.
Walters possessed an intense passion for boating and a talent for racing offshore powerboats. He began his racing career back in 1972 at the age of 28 in a 22 ft. custom Glastron boat, named "Soaring Machine" which was the first of his boats to carry the #88. By 1975 he became a champion in his class in the "Soaring Machine" during the Stroh's Grand Nationals. In 1979 he purchased an 8-meter Martini named "Martini Mist", also proudly wearing those lucky numbers, 88. Despite all the awards and titles Walters earned in his first fourteen years of racing, one of his proudest achievements was the fact that he finished 42 times in 44 starts, a feat not easily accomplished in any motor sport. As years went by, Tim's children Mark and Becky grew up and Tim had to make the tough decision to retire from racing and invest in his family's future.
"Dad took me on the boat with him during the last race before he retired; we only ran a few laps and then pulled out of the race. He turned to me and said 'Someday, we will race together,'" said Walters.
Tim never forgot the promise he made to his son fifteen years earlier in 1986. In December of 2001, father and son purchased a 39-foot Chris Craft, which captured the attention and time of Tim, Mark and Scott for the next six months inside a rented warehouse garage. On June 23, 2002, after approximately 3500 man-hours of labor, the three men, and a boat named "Erie Stinger" with the numbers P5-88, raced at the Lake St. Clair Offshore Challenge at Metro Beach Michigan. Tim's promise to his son was now fulfilled. Appropriately enough, on June 29, 2003, at Metro Beach, MI, the Erie Stinger team celebrated their first victory together.
The boat suffered some damage during the commotion on Sunday, however it will race again, according to Bratton and Walters. The goal is to have the boat race ready by St. Clair on August 3rd and if not then, Erie Stinger will race on August 31 at the Grand Haven GLSCS Championship race.
"We are not going to call it quits. Tim would haunt us forever if we stopped now," said Bratton.
Funeral arrangements for Tim Walters, 59, of Mentor, Ohio, driver of the Erie Stinger, are as follows:
The family will receive friends on Friday, July 18th at Jakubs-Danaher Funeral Home, 36000 Lakeshore Boulevard, Eastlake OH (1-1/2 miles east of the SR 91 and Lakeshore Boulevard intersection; phone 440-953-4600) from 2 - 4 PM and 7 - 9 PM.
A Masonic funeral service will be conducted by George A. Holly Lodge #745 (of which Tim, Mark, and Scott are all members and officers) on Saturday, July 19th at 10:00 AM, followed by an after-funeral reception/wake to be held at Chagrin Lagoons Yacht Club, 35111 Lagoons Drive, Eastlake OH (foot of Erie Road).
Any racing team members and/or officials that are able to attend the services are requested to do so in race uniforms, Tim would have had it no other way.
Suggested accommodations for any out-of-town visitors are as follows:
Comfort Inn - Mentor
7701 Reynolds Road
(SR 306 & SR 2)
Mentor, OH 44060
440-951-7333
Radisson Inn - Eastlake
SR 91 & SR 2
Eastlake, OH 44095
440-953-8000
Cards may be sent to the family at 7231 Erie Drive, Mentor OH 44060. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Erie Stinger Offshore Racing Team (through Mark or Sue) to help keep the boat racing in Tim's memory; otherwise, a donation to a favorite charity in his memory would be appreciated.
Funeral arrangements and other updated information have also been posted on the GLSCS website at: www.Silvercupseries.com and on the Offshore Only website at: www.OffshoreOnly.com.
Terrah Lee
Tim Walters died on Sunday July 13, 2003 doing what he loved most, racing an offshore Powerboat with his son at his side.
"My dad always said, when he dies, he wants to die full throttle with a smile on his face," said Mark Walters, son and throttleman of Tim Walters.
Tim, who recently turned 59 on July 7th, lived out his dreams of racing, all the way up to the final seconds of his life. The 1981 GLOPRA "Driver of the Year" recipient was behind the wheel of a 39' Chris Craft dubbed P5-88 Erie Stinger, when he suffered a heart attack in turn #1 of the GLSCS Mentor Harbor Offshore Classic. The race was in his hometown of Mentor, OH, near where Tim had grown up and first started boating. Walters son and throttleman, Mark, and navigator Scott Bratton, saw Tim disappeared from the wheel and slid down to the floor of the boat. Young Walters pulled back on the throttles and Bratton grabbed the wheel, turning safely into the center of the triangle shaped course.
"Mark immediately pulled off his helmet and crawled down to the floor to give his dad CPR, Mike St. Armand, who we had hired to take pictures of us, was overhead and I signaled to them that we had a medical emergency, then I got on the radio and informed race control, although I don't really remember what I said. Within seconds, safety personnel were there to take over," said Bratton, who joined Mark in CPR efforts before being relieved by Rich Schieferstein, who was also one of the first responders to the scene, according to Bratton and Walters.
Med #2 also arrived within moments and deployed paramedic/rescue diver Bill Lash, Director of the SCORE Team. Paula Lash, also a paramedic, was re-assigned to Med 2 as it was a quicker transport boat than Med 1, and she prepared to take Tim on board. At the same time, EMT Jamie Brooks swam to Erie Stinger, brought aboard some key medical equipment, and relieved Mark and Rich Schieferstein from their resuscitative efforts. Once Med boat 2 arrived at the dock, EMS received Tim, continued care and transported him to the hospital, according to a report from GLSCS Medical and Safety director, Bill Lash.
Despite desperate and urgent assistance from Mark and the rest of the GLSCS Medical team, Walters was pronounced dead at Lake West Hospital in Willoughby, Ohio.
"The GLSCS medical team and Race Officials did everything they could. I thank everyone and I especially wish to thank Jamie Brooks, she did an amazing job. Nobody could have done anything more or done anything different to change the outcome," said Mark.
Tim had suffered a mild heart attack nearly 6 years ago. Upon his return to racing, he received FAA/DOT physicals and as recently as this spring, had been examined again and cleared to race. He had been in good health and was not complaining of having any kind of pain the morning the morning of the incident according to Walters and Bratton.
Word of Tim's death traveled quickly among the offshore racing community and to Walters' friends and family. Condolences are being received from New York, Florida, and elsewhere about the country and the family is so grateful, according to Bratton.
"The support from our friends in the GLSCS, GLOPRA, our Yacht Club, and even people who we have only met in passing is so amazing that we can't put it into words. The mailbox is filling up so fast with letters of support and sympathy that we can't respond quick enough," said Bratton. A special thanks also needs to be extended to Kathy White, the race director of the Mentor Harbor Offshore Classic, for her help on Sunday.
Walters possessed an intense passion for boating and a talent for racing offshore powerboats. He began his racing career back in 1972 at the age of 28 in a 22 ft. custom Glastron boat, named "Soaring Machine" which was the first of his boats to carry the #88. By 1975 he became a champion in his class in the "Soaring Machine" during the Stroh's Grand Nationals. In 1979 he purchased an 8-meter Martini named "Martini Mist", also proudly wearing those lucky numbers, 88. Despite all the awards and titles Walters earned in his first fourteen years of racing, one of his proudest achievements was the fact that he finished 42 times in 44 starts, a feat not easily accomplished in any motor sport. As years went by, Tim's children Mark and Becky grew up and Tim had to make the tough decision to retire from racing and invest in his family's future.
"Dad took me on the boat with him during the last race before he retired; we only ran a few laps and then pulled out of the race. He turned to me and said 'Someday, we will race together,'" said Walters.
Tim never forgot the promise he made to his son fifteen years earlier in 1986. In December of 2001, father and son purchased a 39-foot Chris Craft, which captured the attention and time of Tim, Mark and Scott for the next six months inside a rented warehouse garage. On June 23, 2002, after approximately 3500 man-hours of labor, the three men, and a boat named "Erie Stinger" with the numbers P5-88, raced at the Lake St. Clair Offshore Challenge at Metro Beach Michigan. Tim's promise to his son was now fulfilled. Appropriately enough, on June 29, 2003, at Metro Beach, MI, the Erie Stinger team celebrated their first victory together.
The boat suffered some damage during the commotion on Sunday, however it will race again, according to Bratton and Walters. The goal is to have the boat race ready by St. Clair on August 3rd and if not then, Erie Stinger will race on August 31 at the Grand Haven GLSCS Championship race.
"We are not going to call it quits. Tim would haunt us forever if we stopped now," said Bratton.
Funeral arrangements for Tim Walters, 59, of Mentor, Ohio, driver of the Erie Stinger, are as follows:
The family will receive friends on Friday, July 18th at Jakubs-Danaher Funeral Home, 36000 Lakeshore Boulevard, Eastlake OH (1-1/2 miles east of the SR 91 and Lakeshore Boulevard intersection; phone 440-953-4600) from 2 - 4 PM and 7 - 9 PM.
A Masonic funeral service will be conducted by George A. Holly Lodge #745 (of which Tim, Mark, and Scott are all members and officers) on Saturday, July 19th at 10:00 AM, followed by an after-funeral reception/wake to be held at Chagrin Lagoons Yacht Club, 35111 Lagoons Drive, Eastlake OH (foot of Erie Road).
Any racing team members and/or officials that are able to attend the services are requested to do so in race uniforms, Tim would have had it no other way.
Suggested accommodations for any out-of-town visitors are as follows:
Comfort Inn - Mentor
7701 Reynolds Road
(SR 306 & SR 2)
Mentor, OH 44060
440-951-7333
Radisson Inn - Eastlake
SR 91 & SR 2
Eastlake, OH 44095
440-953-8000
Cards may be sent to the family at 7231 Erie Drive, Mentor OH 44060. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Erie Stinger Offshore Racing Team (through Mark or Sue) to help keep the boat racing in Tim's memory; otherwise, a donation to a favorite charity in his memory would be appreciated.
Funeral arrangements and other updated information have also been posted on the GLSCS website at: www.Silvercupseries.com and on the Offshore Only website at: www.OffshoreOnly.com.
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