Port Orchard mourns teenager who drowned in Horseshoe Lake during heat wave
An 18-year-old youth drowned Monday afternoon in Horseshoe Lake on the upper Key Peninsula, as swimmers across Washington state flocked to the water for relief from a record heat wave.
In a social media post, family members identified the victim as Will Huck, a recent high school graduate who was preparing to go to college while working at the family coffee shop in Port Orchard. The death provoked an outpouring of grief from people who knew him.
“Tons of people are saying what an amazing guy he was. He made anybody feel welcomed and loved,” said Samantha Smith, a family friend. “He was just joyful and happy.”
South Kitsap Fire and Rescue were called to the scene at 3:18 p.m., according to Division Chief Jon Gudmundsen, who said bystanders tried to save Huck before emergency crews arrived.
“The initial call was just for a missing person and then, while enroute, our Kitsap 911 received more information that this individual might be in the water. Our responding crews then updated this to a water rescue,” Gudmundsen said. “When we were arriving, they were pulling the individual from the water and bystanders were initiating CPR.”
Gudmundsen said the responding crew then took over resuscitative efforts before transporting the man to a Tacoma hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Horseshoe Lake Park is a 39-acre park at 15931 Sidney Road SW, about a mile west of Burley. It is managed by Kitsap County Parks. Parks Director Alex Wisniewski confirmed there were no lifeguards on duty Monday.
“We do not have lifeguards on duty at any of our parks,” Wisniewski said.
The Pierce County Coroner had not released the victim’s name by Tuesday afternoon, but friends and family took to social media to share their condolences and post orange ribbons in remembrance.
In a Facebook post late Tuesday, Huck’s family and co-workers shared a message illustrated with a giant orange heart.
The post on the official page for the family business, Whiskey Gulch, said the coffee shop would be closed until next Monday as the staff mourn a “lost son, brother, cousin, co-worker, and friend.”
“As you can understand, we all need time to stop and breath as our breath has been taken away by a most unfortunate loss to us as family and friends and the entire community. He was loved, loved back, and the world has lost a bright light who’s goodness touched so many,” the post said. “We miss him dearly.”
Smith is a close family friend and local business owner who helped to start the orange ribbons of remembrance.
“When I heard it, it just broke my heart, for a parent to lose their son so tragically,” Smith said. “My thought was what the family needs to know is that we know how amazing Will is and was. We want the family to know that the community supports them.”
Smith said the orange color was meant to capture Will’s happiness and kindness to others.
“Will was a believer in Christ. I think that’s really important because, not even that he was a believer in Christ, he was just a good human being,” Smith said. “I’m down at my shop right now because people are coming to pick up ribbons because we are trying to do this ribbon campaign. Tons of people are saying what an amazing guy he was. He made anybody feel welcomed and loved. He was just joyful and happy. I think that’s also a testament to his parents. He was raised by two parents that loved him a lot.”
Smith said seeing people, especially young people, putting up the ribbons was a sign of the impact their departed friend had on their lives.
“All of these kids are down here because Will made such a huge impact on their life,” Smith said. “Will was a good brother, he was a good son, and he was an amazing friend.”
A fundraiser on GoFundMe entitled ‘Will Huck Memorial Scholarship’ was launched on Wednesday to “help raise funds for a scholarship to be given in Will’s name.”
You can find that at www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-family-of-will-huck.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Port Orchard mourns teenager who drowned in Horseshoe Lake during heat wave."
