Farewell friend
Who would have thought a world class cowboy could hail from Staten Island, NY. For this city cowboy, Cowtown, NJ was home turf when he wasn’t rodeoing across the nation, Cowtown just celebrated its 55th year of organized rodeos. Dennis O’Rourke was not only a cowboy, but an accomplished deep sea fisherman having fished some of the eastern sea boards largest sail fish tournaments and piloted or guided many fisherman in the Atlantic Ocean. When Dennis found Ministikwan Lake he was home. White tail hunting became his passion every November. Dennis became part of the Ted Davis group, another gentleman from Staten Island, who is now getting close to a 20-year veteran hunting with Johnson’s at Ministikwan Lake. Over the years there was never a dull moment for Dennis some of his first experiences here were hunting with my daughter Karla at the homestead where he took a great buck. Then there were the days of hunting with Bill Lee. As we know, November can be cool and the ice can start to freeze but not really be safe. One morning Bill and Dennis were going to hunt the Indian One stand (all our locations have monikers depicting the location), and I’m not sure if they found some sweet grass to smoke or what, but they thought the quickest and fast way to travel was on the ice. Not. Before long they were both half soaked from having gone through, lucky for them the 700 Polaris with 27-inch mud lite tires and power to spare didn’t leave them at the bottom of the lake. Dennis being the old cowboy opted to stay out, figuring his heater would suffice for the day. Wrong again. On the drive the mantle portion on the propane heater fell out which wouldn’t allow the heater to light, so Dennis spent the first half of the day in a fairly uncomfortable state. I checked on him in the early afternoon, discovering the dilemma we fashioned a mantle from a Copenhagen tobacco lid poked few holes in it and managed to get the heater to light allowing Dennis to finish off the day in the bush, where he wanted to be. On another occasion Dennis and Mike had been tracking a deer and when they got back the truck wouldn’t start. So Mike rode the quad back, got another truck boosted the first one and then headed in. En route Mike had to give up the road to a semi, landing him in the ditch. As Dennis was behind he got a tow immediately; they tied on Dennis pulled Mike out, but in the process he shot across the road landing in the opposite ditch. Of course at the supper table all the days events were hashed over and the laughing carried over into the shop, an event which has been reminisced many times since. One season Dennis retraced some of his younger years driving out to Colorado and Wyoming to visit old cowboy buddies and attend a cowboy friends funeral, then drove to Ministikwan. That year the evenings in the shop you could fi nd Dennis delivering his renditions of the old cowboy songs and every stand he hunted in he wrote a tribute to his friend, now a permanent fixture on the plywood. From the time we came to know Dennis he had been battling a deteriorating liver, he had tried every conceivable alternative medicine hoping for recovery. When he finally managed to get on the list for a new liver offering a ray of hope, he was diagnosed with lung cancer which took him off the liver list, ultimately sealing his fate. I believe Dennis knew how sick he was, yet he lived life to the fullest. I am glad to have had the pleasure of coming to know him, he was truly a good friend. Dennis made his last hunt this past summer. He passed away at home with his family, wife Irene and best friend Charlie at his side. Two weeks ago the cowboys in Cowtown, NJ, rode for Dennis in a memorial rodeo. May he rest in peace. |
