Family and friends will gather Nov. 9 aboard the sailing vessel Heavenly Days to celebrate the life of Andre Webber. He died at home on St. Thomas on Sept. 11 after battling brain cancer for three years. Webber was 54.
“Andre Webber was an enthusiast for all things related to the sea and marine life,” Gov. John deJongh said in a Monday press release. “His passion for the sea was contagious and he dedicated his life to introducing the ocean world to young Virgin Islanders,” deJongh said.
Webber was a founding member of the V.I. Marine Economic Development Council and worked to ensure that marine tourism and commercial marine industries were an integral part of the community and could provide much needed job opportunities for the territory’s youth.
He was a founding member of the Reef Ecology Foundation, an organization that advocated for preservation of St. Thomas’ reefs by placing recreational moorings in the waters surrounding the island.
Webber was a dive master, boat captain and licensed submarine pilot. Over the years, he worked with numerous film projects and commercials shot in the Virgin Islands as a diver or grip. During one of these shoots he worked with magician David Copperfield, who then invited him to join his crew. Andre toured the world with Copperfield’s show for two years in the 1980s.
Born in New York, Webber moved to the Virgin Islands 34 years ago and began his marine career. He started as a deckhand with Armando Jenik on the M/V Goldilocks, a diver at Coral World and a diving supervisor at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Webber then moved to Atlantis Submarines as a submarine pilot, captain, diver and finally operations manager during the 1990s. He worked on the assembly of two submarines for the company.
For many years, Webber was also a boat captain and diving instructor at St. Thomas Diving Club, a business he would come to own in 2008.
Webber served on various government committees on fisheries and marine industry economic activities.
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Pam Balash, and sisters Dorothea Bertrand, Maria Webber-Mathew, Katrina Webber, Antonia Webber and Geana Webber-Richardson. He is also survived by brothers William Webber Jr. and Stephen Webber.
Memorial donations can be made to the Reef Ecology Foundation, P.O. Box 11564, St. Thomas, VI 00801 or to the St. Thomas Humane Society, P.O. Box 8150, St. Thomas, VI 00801.
