Herkimer Misses You, Maury...

...as do all your friends.

Walking down Egan this afternoon, I noticed something funny in front of the funeral home.

A rowboat, in front of Ellsworths'? I know Bob's close to the creek, but I don't think of the mortuary as the place for jokes about high water.

No joke, alas.

Maurice "Maury" Beyer, age 86, died Tuesday here in Madison. Maury ran Marr's Beach on the west edge of Lake Madison for 40 years. Keeping vigil out front of the funeral home is "Herkimer," the intrepid "fisherman" turned loose each year by Maury on the slough near Marr's Beach to pursue the wily carp and puzzle folks coming to Madison up Highway 19. Herkimer was eventually joined in the slough by the mysterious woman seen seated here with him, and then by a third, smaller figure whose progeny was the cause of great rumor and speculation around Lake County.

Maury's photo was in the local paper the night before he died. That photo showed four generations of Beyer men: Maury, his son Brian, Brian's son Christopher, and Christopher's two-month-old baby boy Landon in his great-grandpa's lap. Landon's uncles Steven and Scott also made the trip from Colorado to visit Maury and join that family photo on October 26.

Visitation is today, remembrances this evening. Expect many fish stories. Funeral is tomorrow, Saturday afternoon. I offer my condolences to Maury's wife Betty and his family. You can do the same on the Ellsworth Funeral Home website.