MEDWAY, Maine — Charity Rudge wants to hold a funeral parlor service for her late brother, “American Loggers” cast member David “Davey” McLaughlin, but she can’t afford it, she said Wednesday.
The loss of his Milo home to a fire more than a year ago, his girlfriend’s hospitalization and an already seasonal work schedule’s being cut further by his poor health apparently forced McLaughlin to go without life insurance, Rudge said.
“There was an increase in his insurance and I guess Davey felt that financially, he could not handle the cost and he just let it lapse,” Rudge said.
Instead, a memorial will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the East Branch Sno Rovers snowmobile club in Medway, thanks to club members’ donating the use of the clubhouse, Rudge said.
A cremation and graveside service will be private and held at a later date, she said.
As viewers of The Discovery Channel show have seen, McLaughlin was an amiable, hardworking man who suffered for many years from a severe diabetic condition, which family members assume caused his death. He was found at his Milo mobile home, the site where his house burned down, late Friday.
McLaughlin had turned 45 on April 15.
He is survived by two sons —Ryan McLaughlin, 18, and Adam McLaughlin, 23, and his girlfriend of many years, Laurie Carey. She has been hospitalized for two months at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with a variety of ailments.
A cause of McLaughlin’s death has not yet been determined, a spokeswoman at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta said Wednesday. His body was examined earlier this week. A final report hasn’t yet been submitted, she said.
Rudge’s family has established a bank account in McLaughlin’s name at Maine Savings Federal Credit Union in Milo. A bank worker said the account was set up earlier this week.
The Rudges hope that people will make donations to help cover her brother’s funeral, Rudge said.
“It’s not a whole lot. The services will likely run a couple thousand dollars,” Rudge said. “Right now it doesn’t seem a whole lot, but it’s financially sapping to the whole family.”
Rudge spoke quietly and sounded composed, but the strain of the five days since her brother’s death was evident. She said she is grateful for the donations and kindness she has received, but didn’t like seeking public help for her brother. She has no other options, she said.
“I hope to be able to take the [financial] burden off the boys and cover the cost of the services,” she said.
Rudge and her husband, Scott, are struggling to get back on their feet financially. They can’t pay for the funeral themselves, they said.
“She is upset because we don’t have any money,” Scott Rudge said. “We both have lost our jobs and we’re just getting back to work for a few months now, but we are so far behind and not making the money that we were. Things aren’t very good.”
A former Katahdin Paper Co. LLC millworker in East Millinocket who lost his job to a more senior worker from the Katahdin Paper mill in Millinocket, Scott Rudge has worked as a harvester operator since October. Charity Rudge has worked as a billing clerk for about four months, he said.
Charity Rudge is trying to handle her grief and the assemblage of her brother’s memorial service, her husband said.
“She is trying to be strong, especially for his kids. I think she’s fighting and doing good, about as well as can be expected,” Scott Rudge said.
“I wish he would have had life insurance,” Charity Rudge said of her brother. “It would have been so much easier.”
Donations can be made in the name of David McLaughlin to Maine Savings Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 447, Milo O4463.