Published: February 16, 2009 12:47 pm      

Small-town tragedy: Two die on lake

FRANKFORT -- Seasoned outdoorsmen. Top-notch fishermen. Alert and tuned-in to their surroundings.

But their outdoor skills failed Ronald Wilkins and Ellwood Holmquist Friday morning on Crystal Lake. A snowmobile that carried the Benzie County men crashed through thin ice and sent them to their deaths in about 30 feet of water.

A mid-week thaw and rain shower weakened Crystal's ice layer, and left it honeycombed and vulnerable, witnesses said.

Wilkins, 57, of Frankfort, and Holmquist, 54, of Benzonia fell through the ice as they prepared to guide friends onto the lake for a fishing outing.

"It's just a real tragedy. A real tragedy in our small community," Benzie Sheriff Rory Heckman said.

The men left their friends from Illinois near shore and hopped on a snowmobile to ferry gear to a fishing spot near Crystal Lake Yacht Club on the lake's west end.

They didn't get very far before the ice gave in, about 100 yards off shore, Heckman said.

Their friends heard Holmquist and Wilkins yelling from the water and called 911, Heckman said. First on the scene was Mark Ketz, a Benzie County sheriff's deputy and volunteer firefighter from Frankfort.

Dawn was breaking when he arrived, and it was light enough to see without a flashlight. Ketz made his way across ice he said ranged from a half-inch to four inches, with areas of open water interspersed.

"You could be fine, and then take your next step and fall right through," Ketz said. "Very unpredictable."

Ketz knew both anglers, described as avid fishermen who loved the outdoors.

"Very jovial, fun," he said. "I was born and raised in Frankfort. It's a small community.

Holmquist was pulled from the water first, but Wilkins was at the bottom of the lake and couldn't be reached.

"It was kind of a real helpless feeling to look down and see him and not be able to get to him," said Heckman, who also ran out on the ice.

The U.S. Coast Guard was called to the scene and retrieved Wilkins with a grappling hook attached to his clothing, said 1st Class Boatswain's Mate Travis Sanders, of the Frankfort station.

"I've bumped into them before out there fishing," Heckman said. "We've had such a cold winter, but we had that brief thaw, and I guess you underestimate how quickly that ice deteriorates."

'Anything for anybody'

Holmquist worked as a housekeeper at Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in Frankfort, where he was pronounced dead.

"He did anything for anybody," friend and nursing assistant Rachele Boylan said. "He was a great, great guy."

Ted Bruce was Holmquist's boss for more than 10 years at Timberline Shell in Benzonia. Holmquist had a strong work ethic and "would do anything" for you, Bruce said, but likely will be remembered for his supreme fishing skills on local lakes and rivers.

"He was always willing to tie a knot for you or show you what to use on the river. He was a big river fisherman," Bruce said. "He taught a lot of people in the area how to river fish, and he'll be greatly missed."

He tried hard to pass his love and knowledge of fishing on to others, Bruce said.

"He could be out there on a certain day when people weren't catching fish and limit out in 45 minutes," he said. "But he was always willing to help out anybody."

Bruce is shocked Holmquist ventured onto unsafe ice.

"He was always aware of what was going on around him," Bruce said. "This really surprised me that this happened to him."

'It really hits hard'

Wilkins was a visible member of the Frankfort community and served on a board that supported local student athletes, said Andrew L.D. Johnson, of Frankfort Insurance Agency.

"There's going to be a lot more people that realize he was an important part of their everyday existence because they saw him or talked to him every day," he said. "I think everybody's going to notice that he's not here ... like when a building gets torn down, you really notice how different it is when it's not there anymore."

Sue McNeal, owner of Bayview Party Store in downtown Frankfort, said Wilkins was almost like a son to her. A recently laid-off electrician, he stopped in the store multiple times a day, usually with an upbeat attitude and big, friendly smile.

"He was always happy," McNeal said. "I think the most down time he had was when he used to get so upset with the (Detroit) Lions and the Tigers. He finally just let that go.

"Everybody knew him or was related," she added. "When you're from a small town, it really hits hard."

Johnson went to the Crystal Lake Yacht Club early Friday along with other locals.

"When I was leaving the scene, I saw car after car after car of people who I knew were his close friends coming out there," he said. "The word went out, and they were going to be out there to do what they could."

Scott Walkley, who has known Wilkins since childhood, said he loved nothing more than being outdoors.

"That's what he lived for, fishing and hunting," Walkley said. "He was out there fishing all the time when he could."

Wilkins' family and close friends gathered at the Frankfort American Legion Friday afternoon. Family members declined comment.

Staff writers Lindsay VanHulle and Sheri McWhirter contributed to this report.