Coconut Grove native John Callobre, 62, dies retrieving a friend’s dinghy.
Born and raised in Coconut Grove, John Callobre grew up around the water, and was known to his family as a good swimmer, an experienced sailor and a man with a generous spirit.
So it was consistent with his nature that he would dive into the water to retrieve a wayward dinghy that had drifted away from a friend’s boat, relatives say.
That is apparently what happened when Callobre, 62, went into the water from a sailboat anchored off Dinner Key on January 15 and disappeared.
After an extensive search by the U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies, Callobre’s body was recovered later that day by Miami Fire Rescue near Dinner Key Marina at 3400 Pan American Drive, according to Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega.
“He was funny, very intelligent, helpful. He was helping someone to the very end,” said his sister, Connie Linton. Callobre was planning to teach the friend to sail a boat she had just purchased, Linton said.
Callobre and his family attended St. Hugh Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy. He graduated from Christopher Columbus High School and attended Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.
In addition to his sister of Lexington, Kentucky, Callobre is survived by his mother, Millicent Callobre; brothers Philip and Anthony Callobre; two children, and three grandchildren.
Funeral services are pending.