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Our nation lost another one of its last lighthouse keepers with the passing on July 4, 2023 of Ernest Gregory DeRaps at the age of 95.
After a stint in the United States Navy in 1946, Ernie DeRaps joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1955, but not before he married the love of his life, Pauline (Polly) in 1951. Not long after he joined the Coast Guard and was stationed at Coast Guard Base Rockland, Maine, he was assigned lighthouse duty. He went on to serve at Monhegan Island Lighthouse, Fort Point Lighthouse, Heron Neck Lighthouse, and Browns Head Lighthouse, all in Maine. His family lived with him at all the light stations except at Heron Neck, which was then classified as a stag station.
In a story written by Brian Gersten in the March/April 2013 edition of Lighthouse Digest, it was reported that Ernie’s wife told him point blank: “Twenty-eight and a half years military. Twenty years working for the State of Maine. You’ve been building houses for the last twelve years. You’re 80 years old. It’s time to quit work.” But, instead, Ernie set up his basement studio and started his lighthouse life all over again.
It was from that basement studio that he and his wife started to go through the photos of life at the lighthouses. As they wrote down the memories, the idea came to them that they should write a book, but not your typical lighthouse book. They wanted two separate books in one, with half of the book talking about lighthouse life from the keeper’s point of view, and the other half about lighthouse life from the light keeper’s wife’s point of view.
After working with Kathleen Finnegan of FogHorn Publishing and Lighthouse Digest, they came out with what may be the first lighthouse “flip book” ever published. It has two covers; one cover of the book is titled Lighthouse Keeping and half of the pages contain Ernie’s memories; and when you flip the book over it is titled Light Housekeeping with the other portion containing Polly’s memories of life at the lighthouses. With the pages of the dual book flipped, the reader can understand the difference in the memories. The book, which is a mix of journal, diary, memoir, and family scrapbook, including numerous photos, was an instant success. Sales were boosted by the many presentations that Ernie and his wife gave with their autograph signings, and it quickly sold out.
But Ernie DeRaps wanted to take the book to the next level and get a copy in every school library in the State of Maine. An additional printing was done and soon Ernie was talking to school kids all over the state and, at his expense, he did his best to make sure the book was in every library that he could find, and always free of charge.
At the time Ernie said, “Our first-hand accounts of lighthouse life are of great historical importance and the younger people of today need to learn about our lighthouses and maritime heritage.”
He then took his love of lighthouses to another level and, with no previous artistic training, painted every lighthouse in Maine. The framed paintings, hanging two inches apart, took up 250 square feet of wall space.
After being married for nearly 64 years, Ernie’s wife, Polly, passed away in 2015 at the age of 82. Ernie was then often quoted as saying: “I’m a lighthouse keeper without a lighthouse. Perhaps, now being reunited with his wife, Polly, they are both again with a lighthouse.
Our sincere condolences go out to Ernie’s surviving family and wide circle of friends. As well as preserving history, their lighthouse book will keep their memories of life at lighthouses alive for generations to follow.
This story appeared in the
Sep/Oct 2023 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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