Wilson Hall grad lost on missing plane loved fishing, outdoors

Joseph Allbritton grew up 100 miles from the coast, went to school 300 miles from the coast, but always gravitated toward the ocean.

He loved fishing and hunting - anything outdoors, really - and was good at it, his friends say.

The Sumter native and Charleston resident was one of five people aboard a twin-engine Piper PA-31 when it disappeared about 110 miles east of Charleston last week. After searching more than 3,500 square miles in more than 76 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard announced "with a heavy" heart it was suspending the search.

Officials never released the names of the five presumably lost at sea to respect the wishes of another passenger's family, according to a Facebook post from Allbritton's wife, Diana Schmidt Allbritton.

"There was a really close group of friends, of guys, at Wilson Hall, and half went to Clemson and half went to The Citadel," said Sumterite Tee Rowland.

Allbritton was in the Clemson half, Rowland in The Citadel group.

"He was the kind of guy that would show up in front of the barracks and sleep in his car to pick us up," Rowland said.

They didn't have cars at The Citadel, he said, and Allbritton knew "we needed a break. So he'd come pick us up, and we'd go hang in Charleston and catch up."

"He had, looking back now, a good gift to make friends with people anywhere he went, and he would genuinely be friends with people all over the world."

The plane he was on that went down was on its way to the Bahamas, according to his wife's posts and the Coast Guard.

The high school friends had remained friends. They had plans to get together for a camping and hunting trip before Thanksgiving.

Allbritton graduated college and found his way to the water.

He had always loved fishing, and he, though still early in his career - he would have turned 35 next month - had already developed a reputation for being good at his job and likable.

He took over on the big sport fishing boat after Jimmy McCormick four or five years ago.

McCormick said having a gap in age - he is almost 60 - did not prevent the two from bonding over their love of big sport fishing, captaining and hunting. They traveled all over the East Coast, to the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and around and up to Alaska as fishers.

"He was one of those guys you just automatically got along with really well. He would do anything for anybody, as far as I'm concerned. I never saw him tell somebody, 'No,' or, 'I can't do that,'" McCormick said. "One of our biggest common goals was we were both so passionate about fishing; anything we had control of we didn't want anything to be less than perfect. That's the nature of a fisherman."

He said Allbritton was "extremely good at fishing" for his age. At a world championship tournament in Costa Rica, he once reeled in a 600-pound marlin after "he was in that fighting chair for four hours and 10 minutes."

"For most people, it takes years to become a seasoned captain. I wouldn't say he is a seasoned captain because of his age, but he was very knowledgeable, confident and proud of what he did," McCormick said. "And it showed. He didn't cut any corners, and he wouldn't accept anything other than the best he could do."

Allbritton called McCormick the other day to go on a hunting trip. Due to schedule constraints, they agreed to "do it next time."

He said their talk was not just all about fishing and hunting.

McCormick said Allbritton loved his family - he and his wife have a young boy, Tripp - and that he loved traveling and captaining but that it was a trade-off because he missed being away from them.

"I told his mom on the phone yesterday that he had called and said, 'I just had a great experience,'" McCormick said. "I said, 'what was it?' 'I just left the barber shop after giving my son a 2-year-old hair cut.' And he just thought that was so cool."

Ryan Russell met Allbritton at Clemson.

They had talked on the phone just two days before the plane went missing.

Allbritton was heading to the Bahamas for work, but he told Russell he knows some women there he "always tries to take stuff to" and asked if, knowing Russell has three children, had any kids' clothes he could donate.

"He was a selfless person. Just like how much he loved fishing, he enjoyed just getting a fish for a friend. I think he probably enjoyed it more for someone else," Russell said. "He always had that grin, that smile."

There will be a memorial service for Allbritton at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Charleston and a celebration of life at 5 p.m. at Ripley Light Yacht Club in Charleston.

Russell said his college mate was always looking out for other people.

"Sometimes, I don't know if he was thinking about it. It just came naturally to him," he said. "He just did it. All the time.

"That's the only way we knew him."