To the editor:

The spirit of generosity and kindness that define our island shines a little less bright today. We’ve lost Bob Dawson, a great friend, family man, mentor, teacher and ambassador for all that is good about this place where we live.

Bob was the first friend we made when we moved here, and what a friend he turned out to be. A one-man welcoming committee, more like. He taught us about the fishing and crabbing and clam digging in our waters, made beautiful wooden toys for the kids, and helped make the island feel like home.

And he did it all with such grace and genuine joy, it was hard to call what he did for us favors. When we bought a table and needed to haul it home, he said, “Take my truck, and actually, you’re going to need another hand, so I will come along, too.”

If it was crab season and we were without a boat, he said, “Take mine.” If we needed to use a dock, he said, “Use ours.” When your own boat needed work, he said, “Bring it over to the workshop,” then he and his son, Brett, spent the rest of the day welding and cutting and fixing until it was good as new.

He taught us how to dig geoducks on his beach, and afterwards, fixed his famous grilled-cheese sandwiches for the kids. He lent his truck to haul firewood time and again. And he invited us into the home he shared with his wife, Joanne.

To be invited into the Dawson home was to be surrounded by love and music and happy grandchildren running through the woods, and to feel as if you were truly a part of the family, not just some friends who dropped by.

Thankfully, this spirit lives on in his kids and their kids. And we can all honor his memory by lending a hand to a neighbor, by loaning a truck, or teaching someone to dig clams, or sharing a story, or giving an unexpected gift. That’s Bob’s spirit. That’s our island’s spirit.

Still, we’ll all miss his presence. My family will miss him. And I will miss him, more than I know how to express. Bob Dawson was a good man.

DYLAN TOMINE

Bainbridge Island