COLUMBIA FALLS – Coby Drisko, son of the late retired Lt. Col. Shapleigh Drisko and Barbara L. Drisko of Columbia Falls, died unexpectedly Feb. 3, 2009, of a heart attack in New Bern, N.C. He was born April 20, 1960, in El Paso, Texas, and lived in New York, Iowa, Kansas, Alabama, Virginia and Connecticut before settling in Maine. Coby was the loving dad of Sarah, a caring brother, entrepreneur, captain of the fishing boats Sarah Belle and Lobstar, and a friend to many on land and sea. He lived his dream every day at sea. From that experience, he formed his outlook on the world. “That’s life to me: some days are smooth; others are full of turmoil. Stay the course! I share with my loved ones and friends my life’s beliefs ‘Go forward’ every day.” Coby found love for every person he met. His gift to all was that he took time to listen; his highest regard was for his daughter, Sarah, the light and reason for his life. During school vacations, he picked blueberries for his grandfather and was a recognized motocross racer. After graduation from high school in Connecticut, he began a career in the construction industry as a heavy equipment operator and rose through the ranks to the position of superintendent. He directed projects ranging from the construction of commercial and civic buildings, to shopping centers, to rebuilding portions of the interstate highway system. Coby relocated to Maine, where he restored the family homestead for his parents and subsequently started his first small business, Acacia Hill Tractor Service – a land management company specializing in residential excavation, developing and marketing hay to farmers throughout New England. As a farmer, he raised a herd of Scottish Highland cattle, several horses, hogs and chickens, along with “Rosebud,” a deer. After several years of farming, he moved to the sea as an independent lobster broker. Leaving Maine temporarily, he started fishing for eels in Massachusetts before returning Down East, where he showed that a market existed for Maine eels. Next he turned to scalloping, where he fished out of several East Coast ports. When the government changed the scallop permit rules, which jeopardized the small boat fishermen, he started advocating on their behalf. He was exploring new fishing opportunities in North Carolina when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Coby is survived by his daughter, Sarah and her mother, Mary Jane; his brother, Chandler and his wife, Cecelia and their son, Christopher of Woodbridge, Va., and daughter, Kimberly and husband, Shane Chapman, of Portsmouth, Va.; his brother, Jonathan “JT” and his wife, Terry and his son, Joshua, of Montgomery, Ala., and Terry’s children, Hunter and Kenneth Sullivan and Lisa Cash and her sons, Cole and Cody, of Trautman, N.C.; his sister, Dr. Jennifer Drisko and her husband, Victor Melmed and their sons, Marc and Max, of Middletown, N.J.; and his fiancee, Victoria Dyer of Vinalhaven. A celebration of Coby’s life will include a memorial service 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, at Columbia Falls United Methodist Church. A gathering of friends and family will be held afterward at the Columbia Falls Community Room.
CAPT. JAMES COBURN ‘COBY’ DRISKO
