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Female diver
becomes artificial reef
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MARCO ISLAND, Florida (July 25,
2002) Victor A. Hill - When Robin
Fannin was 10 years old, she put her handprint in a slab of
concrete outside the home of her sister, Nora
Ralston.
Twenty-one
years later, Ralston put her own imprint in
concrete.
But this
concrete is different.
It contains
Fannin's ashes, mixed into concrete to become part of an
artificial reef off Marco Island's shore.
Fannin, 31,
died of leukemia Oct. 23 in Indianapolis, Ind. Her reef module
will be one of several deployed Tuesday, Aug. 6, at a
permitted site south of Marco Island in the Ten Thousand
Islands. It is one of 22 artificial reefs in Collier
County.
Fannin's
remains, and those of others, will form an artificial reef
that will serve as a refuge for fish. It's a final,
philanthropic gesture from a woman who put the needs of others
above her own throughout her life, Ralston said.
"She was into
good causes.
She worked with
the homeless and donated blood," Ralston said.
Even when
Fannin began losing her hair, the result of chemotherapy to
treat her leukemia, she gave. Fannin had her hair cut for
donation to Locks for Love, an organization that provides wigs
to children diagnosed with cancer.
Her diagnosis
came March 26, 2001, and she got her affairs in
order.
As a certified
scuba diver, Fannin loved the water and wanted to be close to
it, even in death.
"Robin said she
wanted to be buried at sea," Ralston said.
Fannin
eventually discovered Eternal Reefs Inc., a 4-year-old
Georgia-based company that offers burials with a
purpose.
"I can take no
credit except for doing as I'm told," Ralston said.
She sent
Fannin's ashes to Eternal Reefs and later drove down to
participate in casting Fannin into a concrete
module.
"I mixed her
ashes with some water and took some concrete out of the
bucket," Ralston said.
"I put a little
bit of her in at a time."
Then Ralston
remembered the day 21 years ago when Fannin made her handprint
in concrete, and Ralston made one of her own.
"Robin is
getting a kick out of it," Ralston said.
A plaque on
Fannin's module reads: "Robin Fannin/March 10, 1970 - October
23, 2001/ Robin was not finished with life."
As many as 15
modules with 11 sets of remains could be deployed next month,
said Don Brawley, president of Eternal Reefs.
Eternal Reefs
has created and added to artificial reefs in Sarasota, Fort
Lauderdale, Pensacola and Charleston, S.C. The company works
with municipalities and uses their permitted locations for
deployments.
The deployment
will be done with help from the Marco Rod and Gun Club, a
local organization that lobbies for the creation of artificial
reefs for fishing. The club holds permits for two sites off
Collier County's shores.
Members will
help tow reef modules by boat to the site, using floating
bladders to keep the modules afloat until their
deployment. Divers will place the modules on the bottom,
and family members of the deceased will participate in a
memorial service on the water.
Ralston, who
lives in Rome, Ohio, will be there to bid her sister
farewell.
Eternal Reefs
provides an alternative that offers families a certain solace,
knowing their loved ones have a permanent resting place and
are continuing to give of themselves, Brawley said.
That's exactly
what Fannin wanted, Ralston said.
Her sister was
a jack-of-all- trades, an aircraft mechanic who eventually
taught others, especially women, how to repair planes, Ralston
recalled.
"She was always
extreme," Ralston said.
So it's no
surprise Fannin made what some might think is a rather
unorthodox decision to be mixed with concrete and buried in
the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's just
typical Robin," Ralston said. "I feel like it's just the next
step."
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  SOURCE - Marco
Island Eagle
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