Rest In Peace Christopher T Jeter aka Captain Sharkey (1965-2010)
It was September of 2008 when I asked Chris, staying the weekend at the Shadow’s Hold, to be part of my "Have You Met" series. He agreed readily, in spite of the rough times he’d been going through. Not long afterward, my life took several turns and I never got the article written.
Today I listened to that interview again. I’ve confirmed that there’s nothing in it Chris wanted kept private. I heard again his love of the sea, his joy at helping others, and his pain at what being the Captain had cost him.
Many of you never knew the man behind Captain Sharkey, Chris Jeter, and more than anything he wanted to be known. It seems only fitting that, rather than write a sterile article, I let you hear it all from the horse’s mouth.
I’ll warn you, there are a couple of times that made my heart ache. But there are so many others that made me laugh out loud even as I cried. This file is an MP3 file that’s 37MB. It’s the whole interview and lasts between 45 minutes and an hour. I’d suggest right clicking on the link and choosing save as but if you want to listen immediately, that’s fine too.
Chris Jeter Sept 14, 2008 Interview
Rest in Peace, Chris. I enjoyed playing with the Captain when you were in character but I loved you, my brotherfriend.
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Comment by first mate | April 11, 2010
Thankyou for posting my brothers words and thoughts,for all to hear,he was a charcter and will be missed dearly!We love you and we miss you Godspeed my brother Godspeed! ;(
Comment by Escarlata | April 11, 2010
You’re welcome. Listening to the interview again helped me come to terms with our loss and I hoped it would help others too.
Comment by Dan Phelps | April 14, 2010
Chris was like a brother to me. Chris (sharkey)& I knew each other closely. Sharkey and I worked together at Prestige Ford and several other car dealers as well as we fished together, played pool together. Chris was my friend and he will be missed dearly. I Love You Chris and may you rest in piece my friend!
Comment by michael | April 15, 2010
chris and I were old friends from too many years gone by.so the sea has called him home ,I for one am heart broken.I will miss you my crusty old salt dog!the time ran to fast,c-ya on the other side .have a rod and a cold beer waiting.
michael
Comment by Steve | April 19, 2010
Chris an i meet in early 2001 in Fla. I was working at a Prosthetic company and he came in as a PT. We just hit it off and i was able to get him a job making Prosthetics. He welcomed me with open arm’s I was new to the area and not to many friends. We became great friends over the yrs. I will miss you man. An when we meet up will play 18 and enjoy the 19th hole together my friend.
Steve
Comment by Mary | April 30, 2010
He was kind hearted. He was one who would help children who were suffering from cancer along with the make a wish foundation to live their dream of hunting treasure with a pirate or stop and talk with people who were amputees to encourage them to get back to their life again and back on their feet. He was the guy who would stop and save a turtle trying to cross the road or snuggle up on the couch with one of our many dogs and scratch them behind their ear for hours on end. He always had time for his family and his friends. He would braid my hair every night which he really didn’t want public, but it was just one more endearing thing about Chris. He taught me how to make a birdhouse, how to build a deck, how to put down a wood floor and helped encourage me when I told him I wanted to start writing that book I always talked about, he was going to do the illustrations for me since it was a childrens pirate adventure book. He was protective of those he loved. Sometimes he was a little over the top, but that was Chris. He was overbearing and was known to be stubborn, but that was Chris. When we first met he had just the year before, lost his leg in a motorocycle accident and he was so amazed that I didn’t look at him as handicapped, he was handi capable as he then begun to say.
He had many names, husband, brother, friend, son, Sharky, handy man, singer, biker, actor, pirate, Sharkles, Shark lite tuna which he used to crack up at, but I knew him as Chris, my one and only for 10 years and the last 2 ½ years he was my close friend and we spoke often. To the last day we spoke in February, he called me honey and baby like he always did. He told me he would always love me and he would never forget me, he would still do anything for me and Mandy and would be there if I needed him. Those are words I have to hang onto. Well I need you now Chris, I miss you. I have always said my lifes motto is that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and if this doesn’t kill me, I sure will be strong, because I haven’t felt this much pain in my heart for my entire life.
Until we meet again,
Treasure
Comment by Escarlata | May 18, 2010
Dan, Michael, Steve, and Mary, thank you for sharing your memories of Chris. Though I’ve never met any of you, reading what you wrote was a gift.
Comment by Escarlata | May 18, 2010
I posted this somewhere else a while back but I want it here too with all the other memories that we’ve been sharing.