By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com
Wisconsin native Jeffrey Allen Ninmann's dream was to own a boat
and be a fishing guide.
A few days ago, he fulfilled half of that dream with the purchase
of a $40,000 fishing boat.
But the dream ended with Ninmann's death Wednesday when he drowned
at Lake Wilson.
Ninmann had been bass-fishing on his boat while a friend was
fishing on another boat. At one point, Ninmann sped off and lost
control of his boat, according to a firefighter.
His former wife, Kimberly Ficas, knew about Ninmann's dream, but
she said she had always thought he would be a fishing guide in
Wisconsin.
But when Ninmann, a military intelligence officer at Schofield
Barracks, left the Army in the late 1980s, he decided to remain in
Hawaii, she said.
"He never really said why but he loved to fish," Ficas said.
Ninmann divorced and grew apart from his two daughters, who remain
in Wisconsin.
His daughters, 18 and 19, were devastated by the news, Ficas said.
"They never had closure. It's sad Jeffrey wasn't aware that he
would soon be a grandpa," Ficas said. "He would've been a grandfather
twice this year."
Both daughters -- Michelle Ninmann, 19, and Jennifer Ninmann
Briggs, 18 -- are expecting. Ficas said she and her two daughters will
be flying to Hawaii.
She described her ex-husband as a very intelligent man who obtained
three college degrees -- in biology, psychology and landscape
architecture -- before joining the military as an enlisted man.
He graduated from Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Ga., in
June 1986, Ficas said.
She said he loved all kinds of angling, "wherever there was water,"
and also went ocean fishing and even fished for marlin.
He was also an avid hunter. "He used to hold the record for the
biggest deer at Fort Huachuca (Ariz.)," Ficas said.
Ficas said she is puzzled by Ninmann's death since he was an
excellent swimmer. Fire rescue divers recovered the body in 45 to 50
feet of murky water. The Medical Examiner's Office said he drowned.
Authorities said he had no visible injuries.
Police said speed might have been a factor in the accident. Ninmann
was not wearing a life vest, although some were on board the vessel,
police said.
Ninmann is also survived by mother Myra, sister Lisa and brother
Ross.
