Paugus Bay drowning victim died doing what he loved

LACONIA — Stephen Brown-Wooster died doing what he most enjoyed: Being out on his boat out on the lake.

Brown-Wooster drowned last Thursday after he fell off his boat a short distance from shore in Paugus Bay.

“His true love in life was boating,” state Rep. Mike Bordes, a longtime friend, said of Brown-Wooster Monday.

Brown-Wooster had piloted his Sea Ray Sundeck boat close to a sandbar in front of the Margate Resort when he went to set the anchor and tripped, causing him to fall overboard. He never resurfaced. His fiancee, Caroline Grace, was on board with him when the tragic accident occurred, Bordes said.

Bordes first met Brown-Wooster six years ago when Bordes was living on Long Island in New York state.

“He came to buy my boat and we just really hit it off,” Bordes said.

Brown-Wooster had been a longtime resident of Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood before he moved to the Lakes Region full-time about three or four years ago. But for many years before that he was a frequent visitor to Laconia. His grandfather Howard Brown, who died in 2014, was a resident of Weirs Beach for many years.

Brown-Wooster operated a landscaping business called SBW Landscape. He had lived in Meredith since last year.

Being on his boat out on Lake Winnipesaukee was Brown-Wooster’s greatest joy, Bordes recalled.

“We compared who boated more,” Bordes said.

Brown-Wooster would often anchor on the sandbar off the Margate and hang out with other boaters.

It was there that tragedy struck.

Bordes recalled just a few days before he and his friend were “talking about how good we had it.”

Now, he draws on the memories of his friend as he struggles to cope with the loss.

“His goal was to make sure everyone around him was happy. He always had a smile,” Bordes said.

For the Laconia Fire Department, the search for Brown-Wooster, was one of a growing number of water incidents the department has responded to this year.

Fire Chief Kirk Beattie said the department typically responds to between 25 and 30 water-related incidents — accidents, searches or medical aid calls — annually. This year, however, there have already been 21 incidents, the chief said.

“With the hot, humid weather, more people want to be in the water,” Beattie observed. “And besides there are more watercraft out on the water this year.”

Last Wednesday, Fire Department paramedics were called to help a man on a jetski who had a mishap and injured his back. He had been taken aboard a pontoon board by the time department personnel arrived on the scene and was subsequently taken to Concord Hospital-Laconia for treatment. On Friday evening around 8:30 p.m. firefighters had to rescue a man who had been swimming near the Messer Street Bridge and was unable to get back to shore. He too was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Beattie said incidents such as these underscore the importance of basic water safety precautions, including not swimming alone, and wearing life jackets whenever on a boat, and even before boarding a boat from a dock.

In addition to his fiancee, Brown-Wooster is survived by his parents and three sons, along with other family members.

Public calling hours are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paqette Funeral Home in Laconia. Burial will be private.