Rest in Peace Walter aka Barry
My friend Walter Churchill passed away this morning, April 17th shortly after 1 a.m. in Bar Harbor, at MDI Hospital while the thunderstorm was raging. He had entered hospice care a little over 2 weeks ago, and had been at MDI Hospital since Sunday.
Walter's real name was Barry Gutradt. I'm not sure where his alter ego came from, but Water was how I was introduced to him, it was his Facebook profile, and how I referred to him 99 percent of the time.
He died completely at peace, and comfortable. If there is such a thing as a good death, he experienced it, as he was comfortable, pain-free and not anxious.
He loved what he did, taking photos. You would see him chronicling the athletic events of the MDI Trojans and in more recent years the Ellsworth Eagles as well. He just didn't cover home games as you'd often see him on the road with the teams! He did this for 20 years!
I'm not sure if families realized the hours that he put in. Not only was he taking the photos, but then he would go through the hundreds of photos from each event, selecting only the best. He would then process them, sending some to me and then post them without a watermark on his own Facebook Page for families to clip, keep and repost. He would have these photos up by the next morning. No one knew when he would sleep.
He would always take a photo of me at every MDI basketball game. He would tell me it's for your mom, and I would send it to her. I have never been photographed so many times over 20 years!
When he was tackled on the sidelines during the 2023 MDI Football Gold Ball game, members of the Football Team came to visit him in the hospital and gave him a game ball. He was so appreciative. He would retell that story often, with tears in his eyes.
He was recognized by teams and MDI High School for his efforts and rightfully so. It was like having your own personal/team photographer with you at all times!
During the summer months, he was the official photographer of the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company. No one captured the whales, seals and puffins like he did. Take a moment and visit the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Facebook Page. You'll see his photos all over.
He would take photos and lots of them of lobster boats, and had a complete album on his Facebook Page celebrating the men and women working on the water.
He loved MDI High School, and the Bar Harbor Whale Watch. In his final weeks he wanted to let everyone know how much he appreciated the access he was given, on the sidelines at the schools, and on the Whale Watch boats.
He was extremely generous, funding numerous scholarships every year to graduating seniors at MDI High School.
As someone who was with him frequently over the final couple weeks of his life, he wanted to be sure everyone remembered him as he was, doing what he loved, and not as he was prior to his death.
I would be remiss not to thank his good friends Robert and Larry, as well as the fantastic staff at Beacon Hospitality and the tremendous palliative care team at MDI Hospital, especially Heather, Phyllis and Patrick. During the last 2 weeks, I received phone calls at least daily regarding Walter/Barry. They were only concerned about his care and comfort, and did everything possible to follow his dying wishes. If there are angels walking among us, they are them. I also need to recognize the nurses who called me this morning, to let me know of Water/Barry's passing. Delivering a death notification can never be easy, but it's got to be harder doing it in the middle of the night by phone, and they did it kindly and with incredible grace.
To my friend thank you. I will remember you.
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