September 22, 2004 With her right fist clutched over her heart and tears trickling down her cheeks, Jamie Wehler watched as her husband's ashes, encased in a concrete artificial-reef ball, slid off the back of a nearby boat and into the Atlantic.
It was time for her to say a final goodbye to the physical remains of Charles Michael Wehler, her husband of 32 years, who died a year ago.
He was a man who loved nature and camping at the South Jersey shore. He also liked boats and fishing, but only catch-and-release, his wife said.
"To him, nature was something that you become a part of; you leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures. I think that's just what we've done," the Westminster, Md., woman said a few minutes after her husband's reef ball sank into more than 60 feet of water.
