Deb Blare clung tightly to a her daughter and a yellow T-shirt, now knowing it would forever mean something tragic to her family.
- Delbert Blare drowned while saving a swimmer from rip currents
- Family remembers him as someone who would do anything for anyone
“He emptied his pockets slipped his shoes off and took his shirt off... this is what he was wearing and he went down [to the water],” Deb said.
The memory of seeing her husband, 65-year-old Delbert Blare, dive into the water off of Spessard Holland Beach Park, is still fresh in her mind.
“This man started hollering 'Help, Help!' and I looked at Delbert, 'he’s in trouble,'” she said.
Strong rip currents had pulled a man out from the shoreline Saturday evening. Delbert pulled the stranger from the rip current, helping get him back to the shore.
“I was so distraught with seeing him come up out of the water that I couldn’t think, and I just kept saying you can do this, Delbert, you can do this. God has got this,” Deb said.
Deb remembers seeing him sink below the surf. When someone was able to pull him back in, he was no longer breathing.
“It turned out to be his time to go be with God,” Deb said.
Delbert passed away in the early morning hours the following day. His family and West Melbourne community remember him as a loving, passionate and giving man, and in the end giving his own life to save another.
“It’s not an easy story to tell. But I’m so proud of him, because he was that kind of man that would do anything for anyone,” Deb said.
A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Blares' local church, Cornerstone Church of God in West Melbourne.