copyright the Chronicle February 1, 2017
by Tena Starr
WESTMORE – In the wake of Richard Leblanc’s death last week, officials are warning ice fishermen to be leery of thin ice.
Mr. LeBlanc, 62, of Orleans went through the ice on Lake Willoughby on the morning of Thursday, January 26.
Sue LeBlanc, his wife, said that he usually fished the ponds, like Parker in West Glover, which tend to be frozen harder than deep and unpredictable Willoughby. But he’d caught a huge trout in Willoughby earlier and was tempted by the prospect of more.
“We devoured that down, and then he caught another one and said I’d like to save that for mom and dad. And I’ll get one more to share,” Ms. LeBlanc said.
But it never came to pass. He fell through weak ice that day, and efforts to save him were too late.
His wife said she’s heard varying information, but either carpenters or loggers saw him walk across the lake and fall through and called 911.
“He can’t swim,” she said, “but in cold water there’s nothing you can do anyway.”
A game warden who lives in Barton tried to rescue him, Ms. LeBlanc said, and he fell in, too, “but he grabbed him. The fire department was there; they worked on him as much as they could. But it was too cold.”
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