Tower man remembered for his love of family and outdoors
?He was in a place he loved to be, doing the thing he loved to do,? said Phil Bandish, Wednesday at the Chagnon Funeral Home.
Phil?s brother, Stan Bandish, 50, of Tower, died in what it appears to have been a boating accident on Kleber Pond in Waverly Township. His canoe was found with the motor still running July 10. Searchers found his body in the water three days later.
A steady flow of friends and acquaintances kept the funeral home filled during the visitation hours Wednesday. They were there to pay their respects and offer support to the family. Photo displays and a computer slide show memorialized Bandish as a loving husband and father. He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Laurie, and three daughters, Courtney, Rhonda and Megan.
Bandish had retired from working full time on the Great Lakes two years ago, but he had returned to work with increasing hours. He had looked forward to vacation time in July and wanted to spend it with his family, and where the fish were biting.
?There are a lot of naysayers who believe this country is going down the tubes,? said Bandish. ?Maybe somewhere else it is, but I?ll tell you what, in our time of need, I?m proud to live here, and I wouldn?t want to live anywhere else.
?It was almost appropriate for this to happen in this place. I?m going to miss him, obviously. He is in a better place, I believe.?
Bandish?s funeral service was conducted Thursday morning at St. Paul Catholic Church. Phil Said Stan, who had been working for Mittal Steel, was excited to get home. He tried to be in Onaway for the Fourth of July and the parade, but got on in July 5. Bandish got his camper and fishing equipment ready and set everything up at primitive camp site on the northern shore of Kleber Pond. Phil helped him set up the site, July 9, the day before he went missing.
On July 10, ?He had called me about 6 p.m. He was sitting around with a mutual friend at the camp and wanted to know if we were going to get any rain. I said, ?we might be getting some.? ?
Phil recalls his brother saying, ? ?I was thinking about going fishing, but maybe I won?t. Maybe I?ll just go home? ? Phil said he?d bring a motor to put on Stan?s aluminum canoe, since he was having problems with his, and they would go fishing in the morning.
?His buddy left, because he had to get up for work in the morning,? said Phil. ?Stan went home, but, for whatever reason, he changed his mind and didn?t stay home.? Bandish?s home is a short distance from the camp, so he didn?t have far to go.
?He went back to the camp,? said Phil. ?A couple who had a camper right next to his, showed up and they socialized for an hour-and-a-half and then left. Those were the last two people to see him.
?THE NEXT thing I know is I?m getting a call from Stan?s wife Laurie at about 12:15 (Friday morning). Her voice was very broken and rattled, asking me ?is Stan with you.? ? Stan?s canoe, with a side-mounted motor, was going in circles on the pond. It was found Thursday at 11:45 p.m.
Phil went to the site and the Cheboygan County Sheriff?s Department already was conducting a search of the area. They dispatched the county dive team as well as the marine patrol.
?In talking with the couple who were the last to see him, he had the canoe at the site, but there was nothing in it. There was no motor on it, or gear. He didn?t really plan on going out, it was a spur of the moment thing,? said Phil. ?There were probably too many bass jumping, and my brother just loved to fish. He probably was thinking he was going to go for a quick fish, puts all of his gear in there, fish the weed bed?come back in, cook his dinner and call it a night.?
The search continued throughout the night and early morning hours. The Michigan State Police Dive team was requested and responded July 11 to assist with the use of a side scan sonar and 10 additional divers. The two teams continued the search Friday and Saturday and were still unsuccessful in locating anything.
A decision was made to call for a state police cadaver dog out of Lansing. The dog and handler arrived late Saturday evening and they marked a location of interest just before dark.
Dives resumed at 7 a.m. and continued searching the location the K-9 marked. The body of Bandish was recovered at 9:10 Sunday.
?I know my brother very well
During the initial search Friday morning, when Stan?s hat was found in seven to eight feet of water in thick weeds, Phil said, ?At that point I knew he was gone.
?Hopefully, when the autopsy report comes back we?ll have a little more information. Something just isn?t right. He was in pretty good shape.? The autopsy was conducted in Grand Rapids.
He added that Laurie, Courtney, Megan and Rhonda are doing well. ?We are taking it day-by-day.?
Stan moved to the area in 1964 with his family and graduated from Onaway High School before going to work on the Great Lakes for 30 years.