Clyde W. Ehmann, Jr.

Clyde Ehmann, Jr., age 69 of Erie, Michigan, bravely passed away at Ebeid Hospice Residence in Sylvania, OH on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 following a four month illness. He was the son the Clyde W. Ehmann, Sr. and Eugenia Ehmann, who predeceased him.As owner of Bi-State Marine Service on Summit Street just outside Point Place in Michigan, he became a go-to guy for many boaters in the area. While still employed at Dana/Spicer, the roots of his marine repair business began in 1983 in his garage in Morin Point, MI. Word of mouth traveled the area and soon boaters were bringing in their engines, boats, and snowmobiles to his garage for repair. When he retired from Dana, he rented local workshop space and Bi-State Marine was no longer a casual operation as Clyde was officially up and running. He enlisted the help of a young mentor, Dan Grochowski, who became a very close friend. They were often together working on various projects until Dans sudden death on September 21, 2007 in a gyrocopter accident. Clyde enjoyed boating of all kindspontooning, sailing, water skiing in his youth and of course his 26 SeaRay with trips to The Bay, Kelleys Island, Clamdiggers and local marinas and boat clubs. He was a member of Ottawa River Yacht Club, participating in their social events often cooking up breakfasts on the weekend and joining the Thursday night raffle group. He also loved snowmobiling with his son and good friend Mike Failor. In the winter of 2011, they made the long-anticipated and bucket-list trip out West to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. In his earlier days he was into bird hunting with his German Shorthairs. Clyde had quite a collection of hunting-type dogs over the years; a female Shorthair, Roxie, followed by a male Shorthair, Eric, then Rocky-1, and Rocky-2, who came from a rescue center, all with various spellings. When Clyde moved his business to its current location on Summit Street, Rocky-2 was his anointed “shop dog,” as many of Clydes customers have met and fell in love with the big brown dog. Rocky participated in area parades and was always a presence at local boat shows. He was featured (with photo) in a story in The Blade newspaper about the swamp fire surrounding the shop area several years ago. Rocky traveled on errands, service calls and boat transports, and was his beloved, constant companion. Rocky only recently passed away.Throughout all Clydes accomplishments, his son, Michael was born in the spring of 1983. Nearly as soon as Mike could safely walk around the business, he was following his father and Rocky. As Mike grew, so did his love of boats and snowmobiling. Mike became one of Clydes top engine technicians, then moved onto the sales floor, and currently Bi-State Marine is in his capable hands. It was Clydes plan all along to groom his son for the businessa business that has grown considerably since the garage shop days. It is now a full service marina, with new and used boat and engine sales, marine and snowmobile engine repairs, boat repairs summer dock rental, outdoor storage, parts for inboards, outboards, I/Os, and snowmobiles. A celebration of Clydes life will be held Saturday, January 4 at the Ottawa River Yacht Club on Edgewater Drive from 1-5 p.m.Clyde is survived by his wife Julie, son Michael, his brother Greg (Terri) and sister Pamela Holt-Duetemeyer (Richard). He has two daughters from an earlier marriage, Dawn and Kristen.A very special thank you to the Ebeid Hospice Residences kind, gentle nurses and staff for the loving care provided to Clyde and his extended family.Clyde will be cremated and his ashes scattered off the shores of Sanibel Island, FL where he will join those of his parents.