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Ralph K. Banks, 98, who was a Maine Coast Guard keeper at Eagle Island Lighthouse from 1949 to 1952 and Marshall Point Lighthouse from 1952 to 1963, recently passed away in Florida. At press time, he was scheduled to be buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Augusta, Maine.
In the book, A Family Island in Penobscot Bay, The story of Eagle Island he is quoted as saying, “On Eagle Island, for the first time in my life, I found real friends and neighbors. There are no words to express how I enjoyed my relations with the people of Eagle Island. I can only express my feelings toward this island as the best place I have ever lived in my life.” But island life came to an end when he was transferred to the land-based Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde.
Life was also good for his family at Marshall Point Lighthouse, with the exception that it was like living in a fish bowl with hundreds of tourists making their way each year to visit the picturesque and tranquil lighthouse-setting at the entrance to Port Clyde Harbor in Penobscot Bay.
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