ROGER H DEMONTIER (1947-1986)

Roger DeMontier was born June 10, 1947.

During high school he taught swimming at the YMCA, loved scuba diving, and planned a career in Marine Biology.

He attended the University of Miami at Coral Gables, majoring in history. Roger made the swim team in his freshman year and competed for 2 years. At the end of his sophomore year (June 1969), he married Paulette LaPointe. The newlyweds lived in a beachside apartment on Key Biscayne. They were both water people, and soon bought a small Sunfish sailboat. They would anchor on the mud flats off the tip of Cape Florida and go snorkeling, scuba diving and spearfishing. Next they bought an old, decrepit, Chris Craft power boat to rehab, which allowed them to sail further afield. Eventually, they purchased a 51’ Matthews twin diesel boat that they lived on in various marinas around the Miami area for about 4 years. More than once they took the boat over to the Bahamas and often went down to the Florida Keys to go diving.

To support their boats, Roger worked as an engineering draftsman designing streetlamps, sewer grates, and such for the City of Miami and Dade County. Paulette was an industrial biochemist, and both of them were certified Scuba instructors.

When they got tired of living on the boat, they moved to an apartment in Coconut Grove, where they eventually drifted apart. In March 1986, he and Paulette divorced.

While visiting his sister in Hawaii in June of 1986, Roger apparently drowned while snorkeling about 200 yards off shore near Shark’s Cove on the north shore of Oahu. As he was an excellent swimmer, authorities explored the possibility of his having succumbed to a diabetic coma while diving.

He was survived by his sister, Carol and a nephew. Paulette’s brother, who supplied much of this information, believes his ashes may have been scattered at sea, which would have been appropriate.