OCEAN CITY, Md.-A significant impact was made by Will "Willbilly" Hathaway within a short amount of time within the Ocean City fishing community.
Will was an experienced fisherman in Worcester County that carried on beyond his commercial fishing legacy.
"It's not how you want to start it off, but you set back out and try again. At least we know they're here," Hathaway said during a Wicked Tuna interview.
Hathaway and friends, Captain Dale Lisi and Ed Gross would often comment on during their Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks interivews.
Lisi explained how the pair auditioned for Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks in 2016 Captain Dale Lisi, of "Foolish Pleasures," said. Lisi said Hathaway was a great first mate that attracted the show to combining to their duo.
"You hear about people when they pass away and everybody tries to say nice things, but they said nice things about Will when he was alive," Lisi said.
Dale and his wife, Stephanie say no one ever had a negative thing to say about Will, even when he was alive. But especially after his mysterious death during a car accident, it's ever growing.
"New people ‘come on down to the boat, I’ll show you how to fix that,’ he’d step right on the bot and help you, if he didn’t know you, he was that kind of guy," Lisi said.
A Facebook fundraiser has started raising funds for Will's wife, Mary and six-month-old daughter, Molly Jean. $80,000 have already been raised for his two, most important women.
"He said I didn’t know you could fall in love twice in one lifetime. And with a big tear in his eyes, that was his world," Hathaway said.
Lisi says a fundraiser is being held on Saturday at the Marlin Inn to raise money for Hathaway's wife and daughter, but a Facebook campaign has already raised over $80,000.
