Lake George boat accident: One day later

Published in The Post-Star (A1) and on poststar.com
10/4/05

New friend comforts after death of husband

On Sunday afternoon, Anna May Hawley, 74, was cold, wet and worried. She was among the survivors of the capsized Ethan Allen tour boat on Lake George, but the last time she had seen her husband, Earl, was in the water without a life jacket. He did not respond when she called his name.

As she waited for an ambulance in the aftermath of the tragedy, a rescuer tried to put her mind at ease.

"He's probably at the hospital, sweetheart," said Mounir Rahal, who pulled Anna May and five other senior citizens to safety in his motorboat after he saw the Ethan Allen capsize around 3 p.m. Sunday.

But later that night, Anna May found out the awful truth. Earl Hawley was among the 20 people who lost their lives in the accident.

The couple, from Trenton, Mich., had already starting making plans to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next June when they left for a one-week fall foliage excursion last Tuesday, according to their daughter Cheryl.

They were part of a group of 48 senior citizens on the tour, which included a one-hour cruise on Lake George aboard the Ethan Allen on Sunday.

Hawley was comforted by a stranger in the long, stunned moments after her rescue.Laura Sullivan, 33, was at her parents' house on Cramer Point when she saw the emergency vehicles arrive on the lawn of the house two doors down. She asked if she could help, and an EMS worker directed her to Hawley, who simply needed someone to sit by her side.

"The first thing she did was apologize for the way her hair looked," Sullivan said later. "She said she'd just had it done special for the trip. I chuckled, and told her that's something my own grandmother might have said."

Hawley told her that the tour group had just had "a lovely slice of pizza" at Soprano's, a local restaurant, before walking over to the dock of Shoreline Cruises.

As Sullivan and Hawley chatted, they learned that they shared a common career. Sullivan teaches third grade at Tanglewood elementary school in South Glens Falls, and Hawley taught fourth-grade before retiring as a teacher in 1988.

The two women were together for about 20 minutes before rescue workers helped Hawley into an ambulance and took her to Glens Falls Hospital for evaluation.

Sullivan says she can't forget Hawley, who she calls "a lovely, sweet lady." She plans to send her a card, and said she hopes they will reconnect in the future."She really struck a chord with me," Sullivan said. "I just want her to know that I am still thinking of her."

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