By Pat Jenkins
Dispatch
More misery followed tragedy for a Spanaway man who died June 25 in a drowning accident at Lake Kapowsin while fishing with his son.
Authorities identified the victim as Anthony Fuentes, 44.
He reportedly was fishing from the shoreline when he went into the water and disappeared beneath the surface while trying to retrieve something that was floating. Other people at the lake pulled him from the water while his 12-year-old son went for help.
Paramedics from Graham Fire and Rescue arrived and tried to revive Fuentes, but he was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
Two days later, his widow revealed that she and the couple's two sons were being evicted from their home.
Kelli Fuentes, in a post June 27 on Facebook, said she learned the day after her husband died that the owner of the house they rented would serve her with an eviction notice on July 1 because they were behind on payments. She attributed the situation to a dispute with the landlord over the couple's plans to buy the house.
She wrote that "I'm just so lost and scared" as she struggles to find a new home while dealing with the shock of her husband's death.
To help cover the costs of a funeral service that is scheduled for July 8, Kelli Fuentes created a gofundme.com account for donations. Some offers of help came in via Facebook.
"Thank you to everyone for your outpouring of love, support and donations," she wrote in another post. "This has been the hardest time of my family's life, and we are so grateful to have so many wonderful people looking out for and helping us."
According to an online obituary, Anthony Fuentes was born in 1972 in Tacoma. In addition to his wife and sons, he is survived by his father, two sisters, two nieces and two nephews.
The incident involving Fuentes is believed to be the first drowning death in south Pierce County since July 4, 2014, when a Tacoma teenager died at Alder Lake after he disappeared beneath the water while he and friends were floating on a log. He wasn’t wearing a life vest.
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