Deer Isle
Archie Winters Pickering Jr., 89, died April 7, 2022, in Hudson, Fla. A lifelong resident of Deer Isle and Stonington, Archie was born on July 13, 1932, the son of Eva (Gray) Pickering and Archie Pickering Sr. He had been battling health issues for a few years. Despite this he never lost his sense of humor or his desire to enjoy family time. His family was at his side when he passed.
Archie tended to do things on his terms including his time and place of birth. While his parents were traveling by ship to Nova Scotia, Archie thought Shelburne would be a nice place to make his entrance. His early years were spent in the Mountainville section of Deer Isle, though his family moved frequently due to Archie Sr.’s work. Archie found himself a freshman at Deering High School in Portland but graduated from McKinley High School in Deer Isle, the Class of 1950. The following years provided many changes of direction. Sternman on his friend Ken Morey’s lobster boat, drafted into the U.S. Army, married to his sweetheart Anita Cousins, stationed in Kansas and then Japan, becoming a father to his first born, Charles, and eventually returning to Maine. He worked many jobs including a mechanic at his father-in-law’s garage, engineer on Perry Dureya’s lobster smack and driving for the Merrill Transport Co. in Bangor. His love for the ocean was too strong to deny and he started his life as a Stonington lobster fisherman in 1960, first as sternman with Royal Robbins and then on his own. He and Anita made a home atop Russ’s Hill overlooking Stonington Harbor. They welcomed two more sons, Stephen and David.
The Stonington Lobster Co-op was the base of operations for the area fishermen and on many mornings while waiting for the fog to lift the fishermen would take this time to discuss problems or disputes among them. Archie sat back and listened. When the discussions were done, they would look to him and ask what he thought. Usually his thoughts resolved whatever problem was being discussed. Out of this his peers bestowed upon him the nickname “The Judge.” This title stayed with him for decades and was his unofficial boat radio call name as well.
In the fall of 1969, he moved his family to their new home in North Deer Isle. He and Anita lived out the rest of their years there. Along with hauling lobster traps by day he would drive a truck for the Stonington Lobster Co-op by night. He couldn’t shake the urge to drive the big trucks over the road and this opportunity satisfied that need. On Oct. 19, 1993, that all came to an end on a dark, rainy night on I-95 in Greenwich, Conn. Archie was involved in a multi-vehicle crash that left him pinned in the wreckage for over five hours. Instead of focusing their resources on getting Archie to the hospital, some of the Greenwich Fire Department first responders chose to cut the lock from the undamaged body and take 3,500 pounds of lobsters to enjoy at their leisure. This selfish criminal act resulted in a black mark on the city of Greenwich and made Archie’s plight a nationwide story. He lost one leg and the other was permanently damaged. His recovery took over a year. He was told he would not do the things he used to do, including working on his lobster boat. So, he took up golf. Six years later he had enough of watching his friends catch all the lobsters and bought another boat and gear. He fished for 10 more years before officially retiring.