Dennis Maher is an average father. He wears a baseball cap, has a relaxed demeanor and once helped with a high school yearbook.

But he became a hero to a pair of unfortunate boaters almost two years ago.

When Maher began his story of why he, his father Ramon and two of his children, Bridget and Michael, were honored with a Life-Saving Award at Monday’s Sycamore City Council meeting, his blue eyes became glassy and distant.

Maher and his family vacationed to Eagle Lake near Dryden, Ontario, Canada August 2, 2004. They were lured to the water by their family tradition of fishing.

“It was a weekend of fishing with my wife and four kids, and spending some time with my dad,” Maher said. “We were heading out one morning as we did every day.”

The foursome, with their torsos wrapped in the foamy mass of life jackets, boated onto the lake. They had no idea they would save two lives that summer afternoon.

“We were approaching the bay, which is several miles away, and we noticed a metallic type of flashing in the distance, which is very unusual in a wilderness situation,” Maher said. “As we approached the area closer, what we learned was the flashing of this metallic object was actually a runaway boat going in 360-degree circles at full throttle. At first, we thought there were boaters that were out on this and messing around, but we soon discovered they were not. The boat was empty.”

The Mahers scanned the water and found two people desperately trying to keep afloat in the water beyond the perimeter of the boat’s path. Maher said if the two had been inside the boat’s circle he had no idea how they could have hoped for rescue.

“We realized we were approaching what many people fear to approach, which was an empty boat with people in the water,” he said. “As we got into ear distance, they screamed that there was already a man under.”

Maher’s son Michael, was 17 at the time. The Eagle scout stripped off what would have weighted him down and dove in. The two still afloat were pulled from the water and onto the Mahers’ boat. Michael spent nearly 10 minutes looking for the unaccounted man, before his father called him back.

The missing man was Anthony Kittinger, 41.

“We continued to search and my dad put out a mayday right away and a couple of other fishing boats arrived about 20 minutes later,” Maher said. “The people we pulled in, including my son, were cold and wet, so we decided we had to get back to some civilization. We took them to the nearest fishing lodge, and that was it. We were fortunately at the right place at the right time.”

Maher still goes fishing with his family but he has also learned a lesson, one he now strongly advocates.

“When you read about this sort of thing in the newspapers, you think ‘Aw, that’s too bad,’ and you move to page three,” he said. “There are moments I will never forget, [like] the flashing of the boat. There’s that pit in your stomach, the emptiness you feel when you see this runaway boat with nobody in it and then you see the two people swimming in the water. When someone loses their life, you realize the importance of life preservers. Some people think it’s an inconvenience when you want a sun tan, but a sun tan doesn’t do you much good when you’re dead. People say seat belts are important in cars. Well, life preservers are just as important in a boat. That’s a lesson to be learned by all.”

None of the victims were wearing life jackets. The Mahers were also told Anthony Kittinger was a good swimmer. His body was found three days later on August 5, 2004 in Eagle Lake.