Who’s Who on St. George Island/William Gary Robrecht (1944-2018)
William Gary Robrecht, 1944-2018
The excerpts below are from Who’s Who of St. George Island, by Mary Gale Adams, April 1994, St. George Island, MD.
St. George Island is positioned 6 miles up the Potomac River from Point Lookout, MD, and traditionally home to some 200 families. Almost up to when these oral histories were compiled, in 1994, most families were supported by commercial fishermen and used boats for commerce and as avenues to travel around the Chesapeake Bay. — Jack Russell, brother to Ms. Adam
William Gary Robrecht:
Family members wife, Mary Jean (Goddard) Robrecht 1944
Daughters: Annette Marie, Jo Anne, Laura Renee
My great-grandfather was Joseph Robrecht, my grandfather was William Harry Robrecht and grandmother was Leila Mary Robrecht.
My mother was Laura Josephine Robrecht. My uncles are William Earl, James Neal, Phillip I., and Brent Matthew Robrecht.
I was raised in the Robrecht home place where Butch Cornelius’ house [Dennis Edwards’ presently] is now located.
Our first home was right next door, exactly where Matthew Robrecht’s home is now. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1967.
Gary: “Some of my fondest memories of the island are of going to Letcher Lampkins’ store in the evening or at night , when the watermen were all there sitting around talking. I would listen with amazement to the stories of the boatloads of oysters and crabs caught in the years gone by.” Also of the conflict between the watermen and the DNR Police in the nighttime appropriation of the Maryland Oyster.
He had fond memories of waterfowl hunting on St. George Island, and the rafts of seemingly never ending ducks and geese. “All of my memories of St George Island cannot be told in this short space.
“Many thanks to the friendly people of the Island who helped me appreciate its beauty.”
Gary served in the US Army in Berlin, Germany, from 1963-1966 and was a member of the NAS Fire and Rescue Aircraft Fire Fighting Division from June 1966- June 1994. He died December 28, 2018, in LaPlata , MD, at 74 years old. He is survived by his children, Annette Marie Gill (Douglas) of La Plata, JoAnne Roberts (Terrel) of La Plata and Renee Reilly (Richard) of Annapolis, and his eight grandchildren. He will be missed.
Photo by Bryan Swann
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