David Sands Seaman passed away on May 25, 2025 at his home in Little Tutka. Dave was born on October 27, 1952 in Providence, Rhode Island. Dave lived in Connecticut until 1962 when his dad, a Navy man, got a job at Clear Air Force Station near Anderson, Alaska. His mother Emily drove the kids north and Dave began his 4th grade year in a schoolhouse while living in a trailer court. They moved to Anchorage in 1965 for his junior high school years, though his high school years were spent in New Hampshire at Phillips Exeter Academy. Dave spent six years in college (Kalamazoo College, Reed College, University of Alaska) until he decided he wanted to work with his hands. He moved to the Homer area, where he began commercial fishing, built his first wooden skiff and met his future wife. They raised two kids in Little Tutka Bay, in an old fishing barge built up into a home which floated on the high tide. Both family and “scow house” moved to Homer in the mid 1990s. Twenty years later Dave purchased property in Little Tutka and moved back to his true home.
Dave’s love of working with his hands and mind together made him a natural builder. Boats were his world. Dave was passionate about the old Bristol Bay double ender fishing boats, restoring the Libby #76 in his Little Tutka boat shop and working with other like-minded people to sail it back to Naknek in Bristol Bay. Dave’s preservation of wooden boats and contributions to our Alaskan boatbuilding culture will continue through the boats he built and restored.
Dave’s postal career as a rural mail carrier was a saga unto itself, and kept him connected with the south side of Kachemak Bay for over 30 years. One of the biggest joys in life was his granddaughter Avery, with whom he shared a special bond. He was an excellent Dad and “Grandpapapapa”- full of fun and get-up-and-go. He was a good teacher, interested in the “whys” as much as the “hows”. He was a writer, an artist, a musician, and a philosopher. He was a stubborn, kind, and peaceable soul. He made and kept loyal friends throughout his lifetime.
Dave was preceded in death by his father David Sands Seaman Jr. and his mother Emily Horsman Seaman. He is survived by his partner Carol, son Nathaniel, his daughter Alder, son-in-law Kelly, granddaughter Avery, sisters Penelope and Nancy, brother-in law Joe, nephews Aaron, Gabe, and Robert, many more family and friends, and many beautiful wooden boats.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Alice’s Champagne Palace in Homer on Sunday, September 7th from 2-5 p.m. Contributions on Dave’s behalf can be made to the Bristol Bay Historical Society, P.O. Box 250, Naknek, AK, 99633.
