The sun rises on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. (Getty Images)
14 May 2021
Joseph Eagers Jr. was always the first of his family in the water.
For over 30 years, whenever his family visited Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, he was first to brave the ocean waves. He d encourage his children to join him in the blissful swells of the salty water.
On April 19, Eagers made one final trip to the beach.
With the help of his hospice nurses and his eldest daughter, the 95-year-old retired civil engineer and veteran of three wars felt the cool sea breeze in his hair and listened to the waves crash onto the shore. After leaving the beach, he made one final stop at his Sea Pines home, where he d lived for 35 years.