When people remember Bob Hemeter, they’re likely to think of his furniture store, his civic activities or his awards for community service.
But when Jimmy Clark remembers Hemeter, he also thinks of fishing.
Hemeter was active at First Christian Church, the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club and McComb Interdenominational Care Association. He delivered meals for St. Andrew’s Mission and was a Salvation Army bell ringer, among other civic activities.
He was the Enterprise-Journal 2021 Life Achievement Award winner and the 2022 Junior Auxiliary Azalea Ball king.
Clark got to know Hemeter when Clark’s construction company built a new store for Hemeter’s business, Home Furniture, in the late 1970s. Turned out they were both avid anglers.
After that, “we did a lot of fishing together,” Clark said.
Memories of their adventures — or misadventures — still make Clark smile.
Anchors away
On one trip, “he sat in my boat as first mate,” Clark said. “I stopped. I said, ‘Bob, throw the anchor out.’ He did. It wasn’t tied to anything.”
They and other friends made two bass fishing trips to Mexico. The trip was riddled with problems. The private plane they flew in broke down upon landing.
“The next day the Mexican government shut down all aircraft leaving Mexico,” Clark said. “Bob said he would call President Carter to send the Marines to get us out.”
When they finally got onto the miles-wide lake and motored out for 25 or 30 minutes, Hemeter tried to make conversation with the boatman in broken Spanish.
“He asked that Mexican which way it was back to the camp,” Clark said. “He said ‘campo.’ The Mexican thought he wanted to take us back to the camp.”
So the boatman revved the motor and set back out across the lake — until Clark and Hemeter stopped him.
Clark and Hemeter often fished for speckled trout out of Hemeter’s camp in Cocodrie, La.
Other times they angled for bass in a large lake at Clark’s camp near Bayou Pierre.
‘Old codgers’
As they got older, Clark brought his Bay Boat to the lake. The boat is 22 feet long with high sides for safety, a canopy for use in hot sunshine, a trolling motor for going slowly and a big motor for when they needed to get somewhere fast.
“I took it over there for the express purpose of Bobby Brock, Bob and myself as three old codgers,” Clark said, citing the boat’s safety features.
By that time Hemeter’s health had declined.
“I took it for when Bob gets well,” Clark said. “I’ve still got that boat sitting over there under the shed.”
When Hemeter moved into a nursing home, Clark visited him regularly, encouraging him to get better so they could resume fishing. That never happened, and Hemeter died Jan. 11 at 87.
“I’d like to say how good a friend he was, how much fun he was to be with. He made me laugh,” Clark said. “I always found him to be a very generous person. He was always glad to meet people with a smile.”
A trip to remember
Hemeter’s daughter Beth Hemeter recalls a trip she made with him in June 2021 to Cocodrie.
“We took Drew and Charlie Milton, his grandsons,” she said. “It was the trip of a lifetime. We limited out on speckled trout just after the sun came over the horizon. He had wanted to share this experience with his grandsons for a long time.
“About a month after this trip, Hurricane Ida erased Cocodrie. While we were there we ate at Sportsman’s Paradise Restaurant, where his picture was still hanging from years ago with a stringer full of trout hanging over his back.
“I am so thankful for this memory.”
