Tribute Paid to Harbor Deputy Killed in Rescue

Friends, family members and colleagues paid tribute Tuesday to Ventura Harbor Patrol Deputy Paul Korber, who died in March while rescuing a mother and her two children from heavy rip currents.

In a driving morning rain, a procession of patrol boats and rafts motored through Ventura Harbor. Dressed in yellow rain suits, fellow patrol officers tossed flowers into the ocean during the ceremony. Afterward, about 50 people attended a prayer service at the Ventura Port District’s headquarters.

“The rain might have chased a few people away from being here, but actually it was real nice,” said Harbor Patrol Deputy Pat Hummer. “It was more of an upbeat type of thing. A lot of good things were said about Paul.”

Korber, 45, drowned while swimming toward a mother and two boys who had been pulled out to sea by a riptide near the harbor’s south jetty. The family was saved, but after they were pulled onto a patrol boat, officers noticed Korber had gone under. Korber’s death was the first rescue-related officer fatality in the Ventura Harbor Patrol’s 46-year history.

Colleagues said they miss him. “We were giving his memory to the ocean he loved so well,” said Harbor Patrol Deputy JoAnne Budzinski.