Lake Piru Staff Mourns Death of Marina Manager

They’re still reeling from the effects of the storms at many Southland reservoirs, but if damaged docks and flooded buildings are all they have had to endure, they can consider themselves fortunate.

At Lake Piru, they’re mourning the loss of a lake employee who has been a fixture at and around the Ventura County reservoir for 18 years.

The body of Art Caldara, marina and bait shop manager, was pulled from the popular fishing lake early Monday morning after he apparently drowned during the night.

Caldara, 60, who lived a simple life in a trailer on park grounds and was popular among anglers and employees alike, was last seen pumping rain out of the boats Sunday night.

“I came back the next morning and his car was still here, and the door of the trailer was open and the gate [to the lake] was open,” said Peter Cervantez, who has worked on and off at the lake for 12 years. “I went to the trailer and looked around and he wasn’t home, so we called the sheriff’s department and they came with a search-and-rescue team and as they were preparing to go in, I kicked one of the boats out of the way and there he was.”

It had been raining all day Sunday and the docks were slippery and wet. Caldara was wearing a heavy jacket, which might have hindered his ability to swim or get out of the water. A rain jacket was found on the dock.

Chet Roberts, president of Pyramid Enterprises Inc., which operates the concession at Piru, Pyramid and Silverwood lakes, said Piru will not be the same without Caldara, whose nickname was “Milk Shake” because of the smoothness of his stories.

“What was amazing about him was that he had this tremendous following of fishermen,” Roberts said, “and he could tell them where to go and what to use and how to catch fish, yet he himself has never even expressed a desire to go out and catch one for himself.”

Caldara, who was divorced, is survived by three daughters. There will be a lakeside memorial service Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m.