Patrick Dipzinski and Ethan Mroz both killed over the weekend in Lake Michigan
Read more: Local, Lake Michigan, Patrick Dipzinski, Ethan Mroz, Gaylord, Drowning
GAYLORD -- Rough waters in Lake Michigan are being blamed for taking the lives of an Otsego County teen and his grandfather.
Ethan Mroz, 16, and his grandfather, Patrick Dipzinski, 66, drowned during a small family outing on the Lake Michigan shoreline near Moran Township in Mackinac County, Saturday.
Mroz and Dipzinski are both from Gaylord.
Their family says Ethan and his girlfriend were swimming about 23 feet from shore when the calm waters began to churn up.
"They were out in the water pretty deep and Ethan tried pushing Alicia into a hole and said 'save yourself,' said Claude Huff, a family relative.
Because of Ethan's action, relatives say his girlfriend was able to swim back to shore. That's where she alerted Dipzinski who tried swimming out to save Ethan. But, the waters proved too strong for him as well.
"That was the kind of guy he was," Huff said. "I don't' care whose kid it was he would have gone in there after him."
Michigan State Police have classified this accident as a double-drowning though Huff says it has been determined that Dipzinski may have died of a heart attack. Dipzinski's wife, Mary, was also hospitalized following the incident.
As for Ethan Mroz and Patrick Dipzinski, Claude Huff says they'll both be remembered for their kind souls and love for family. Patrick a "best friend" and Ethan a "great kid", Huff says a passion they both shared was hunting.
"He loved to hunt with his dad especially," Huff said of Ethan. "We took him up and got him his first bear and he was ecstatic, we had to roll the windows up to keep him from floating away."
A Gaylord-native, Patrick Dipzinski was a retired employee of the Department of Corrections and veteran of the United States Army.
Like his grandfather, Ethan Mroz had a life-long dream of serving as well, but in the United States Marine Corps. Huff says Mroz was planning to enlist following his expected graduation from Gaylord High School in 2011.
A small, private, service will be held later this week at a family home. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Patrick and Ethan's name to the Otsego County Food Pantry. The OCFP is located at 116 East Fifth Street in Gaylord. Their mailing address is P.O. Box 1976, Gaylord, MI 49734-1976.
