Joe Kessler's Farewell
Hundreds of swimmers flock to St. John each year for the Beach to Beach Power Swim on Memorial Day Weekend. Organizers this year are paying tribute to the man who helped put it all together every year -- Joe Kessler.
He could be seen surveying the shoreline at Maho Bay, clipboard in hand, ready to call each group to the starting line according to the color of their caps.
That was a while ago now; since then Joe and Christina, his wife, bid their friends on St. John so long. But now, because of a swift and sudden accident while traveling in April, the Kesslers have bid the world goodbye.
Race sponsors at the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park have dedicated the power swim in Joe's name. "Joe came up with the idea for the Beach-to-Beach Swim more than 21 years ago when he served as president of the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park; for more than a dozen years, he was the voice on a megaphone that guided swimmers at the event’s start as they leaped into the water at Maho Bay," read a statement issued by the Friends group on May 23.