My cousin, Les and wife Arlene

[likembikem]

My cousin Les was a corporate pilot living on Big Pine Key, Florida. I haven't been down in a while but when I did we went diving and buzzing the reefs in his plane. He had a Yamaha Venture and later a Soft Tail. His wife Arlene was a nurse and sold real estate. They were hit very hard by hurricane Irma and from what I hear now were getting major run around with insurance and permits to rebuild, as is everyone else there. Arlene had some kind of painful disease with no apparent cure. I have been told after a homeowners meeting that was nothing but bad news ; Les called a friend and said he had just shot Arlene and was going to put the gun to himself, which he did. No one in my family has ever been through anything like this and we were all shocked. This happened Feb. 8. He may have done something stupid, but I remember a good guy....bad situation.

 

[Traumahawk]

May they both RIP, and very sorry for your loss.

 

[Fire-medic]

Wow, a sad story, I'm sorry to hear of it. Leaving out the hurricane, a similar story happened to a husband/wife where I worked w/the husband on fire/rescue. He retired from south FL & they moved to GA. After many years, she was an Alzheimer's patient and he was apparently facing some significant health issues, he did the same thing. They weren't in financial trouble though. I suppose he couldn't stand to see his wife that way and did it.

Another friend from the fire dept had a stilt home 1/2-way to Key West on the Atlantic Ocean, he lost all the vegetation, though the house fared OK. There was a 6 ft tidal surge which wiped-out all the stuff stored below at grade level, though they have had that happen before, since the home was built in the late 1970's. I helped him to build it.

I haven't been to Key West since the hurricane but the newspaper writes articles about the issues people are having, supposedly a lot of the locals have moved, because the cost of development is so-high, especially for renters, they cannot afford to live there anymore. Even the homeowners are taking the checks and moving. A friend who is a FL G.C. went down there to look for a lot to build a spec home upon & lived there for a month to look locally, and gave-up, he said the prices for land are crazy.

Florida land development codes are probably the strictest in the nation. I am a licensed plans examiner, among other things.

 

[93max]

So sorry for your loss!

 

[[email protected]]

My condolences. That's a terrible loss.

 

[Redbone]

My condolences, remember everything good.

 

[Bill Seward]

I hope they found peace. Remember them with joy.

 

[caseyjones955]

That is hard to imagine, very sorry for your loss. Condolences to you and your family.

 

[marsmax85]

Sorry to hear this sounds like they were very nice people may they both rest in peace !

 

[sdt354]

My condolences. A sad story for sure.

 

[likembikem]

Thanks everyone for positive support. Seems a lot of effort has gone to Puerto Rico after Irma, the keys still suffer. If anyone were interested to read the news article you can google Les Weston Big Pine Key and a short article tells basically what happened. I appreciate the support, from all over the country. Mark