NARRAGANSETT − A 59-year-old Narragansett man died Monday after going overboard from a boat, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
He was identified as Joseph Gilmartin, a longtime North Kingstown High School football coach.
According to the DEM, a 911 call was received at 12:53 p.m. for a person overboard and a boat motoring in circles off Black Point in Narragansett.
Environmental police officers for the DEM, the Narragansett Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard responded, the DEM said.
Lines were used to stop the boat, and divers located Gilmartin, according to the DEM. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The incident is still under investigation.
A post on the website for the Rhode Island Men’s Senior Baseball League, where Gilmartin played, said he was fishing when he fell overboard.
“Scott Partington’s Narragansett Fire and Rescue did all they could while transporting him to South County Hospital,” the post said. “Joe played his younger years with Noah Clark and Al Alvarez in the Newport Sunset League. He will be certainly missed down at the docks in Galilee where he had a smile and laugh with all that knew him.”
Gilmartin was a history teacher, football coach and worked summers as a commercial fisherman, according to a 2019 story in The Providence Journal.
Other posts on social media referred to Gilmartin’s time as a former high school coach.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Coach Joe Gilmartin. Please accept my heartfelt condolences during this difficult time. Coach Gilmartin was not just a legendary football coach; he was a mentor, a leader, and a source of inspiration to so many in the North Kingstown community,” wrote Mikie Rebello of the “Can We Keep It Real Podcast Network.”
