June 24, 2016 — SCITUATE, Mass. — Elmer Pooler weathered many storms at the helm of the harbormaster’s boat — always with a pipe in his mouth — but in his final patrol, the water in the harbor was calm.
A casket with Pooler’s body, flanked by members of the harbormaster’s office and his family, was loaded onto a boat in Scituate Harbor on Tuesday for his honorary “final patrol.” The boat then retraced the same route Pooler frequently took in his more than three decades on the job.
Pooler, the longest serving Scituate harbormaster, died peacefully on Thursday at 90 years old.
On Tuesday, Brad White, who founded New England Burials at Sea, volunteered to take Pooler on his final ride. White, after all, considers Pooler his mentor.
Elmer E. Pooler Jr. made his final ride on the vessel White Cap, sailing from the dock past the town pier and out to the lighthouse jetty, before returning to the harbor. About 15 boats gathered around the White Cap, carrying friends, family members, and Scituate residents.
From the back of the boat, behind Pooler’s casket, White read a John F. Kennedy quote: “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back to whence we came.”
Four cannon blasts — one for each decade of service — rang out before the procession continued. Pooler served as harbormaster for 20 years and assistant harbormaster for 14.