Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

“Work was not steady during the early
years of the business,” Wayne recalls. “When
we had a job, I would contact some of my
fellow divers and put a crew together.
Greg Lashbrook, Arnie Chickonoski and
Tom Clingenpeel were very skilled both
underwater and topside. As work increased,
we added additional personnel, including
Kathy Johnson and Colette Witherspoon,
two very experienced divers.” Wayne notes
that while Kathy and Colette may not have
been as physically strong as some of the male
divers, they were pretty smart. “This proved
to be just as effective as brawn and they
had no problems going through eighteen and
twenty-four inch pipes, which most of the
guys could not do,” Wayne adds.
Many of Wayne’s divers came right out of
Dive School and one of them, Roger Randall,
ended up marrying Wayne and Donna’s
daughter, Laura. Roger went on to start his
own dredging business. Both daughters,
Laura and Anna, are divers and the grandchildren
also enjoy the water.
Commercial Diving & Marine Services,
Inc. has grown steadily over the years and
its dive crews have performed numerous
salvage operations, sonar surveys, zebra
mussel removal and maintenance of various
industrial and municipal facilities throughout
the Great Lakes region.
The list of unique services provided by
Commercial Diving & Marine Services, Inc.,
includes confined space diving in deep
vertical shafts containing high methane
levels. This highly specialized crew has been
called in to perform critical repairs from
California to Florida.
For details about these services, consult
the firm’s website at www.workingdiver.com.
As a member of the Association of Diving
Contractors International since 1993, Commercial
Diving and Marine Services, Inc., holds to the
highest commercial diving safety and operational
standards in the country.
Commercial Diving & Marine Services, Inc.,
is a union company and all divers and tenders
are proud members of Pile Drivers Local 687 in
Detroit, Michigan. Keith Mear and Ted Binnall,
each with more than twenty years with the company
are the lead dive supervisors.
Wayne has always been active in the local
search and rescue community. He joined
the local sheriff dive team in 1971 and
remains very active. He joined a volunteer
fire department in 1985 and retired from
fire service in 2006.
Today, Wayne works primarily on the
administration side of the business, bidding
the work and troubleshooting difficult jobs.
Looking back on the company’s success,
Wayne says he learned early in his career
that dedicated employees, top of the line
equipment and a desire to be the best would
build the company’s reputation and clientele.
Opposite, top: Working in the
St. Clair River.
Opposite, bottom: Salvage team.
Top: Lake Huron pipeline work.
Above: Decontamination of diver.
SHARING THE HERITAGE
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