George 'Marty' Counts 1966-2013

A private ceremony will be held on April 6 for Marty Counts on the shore of the lake he loved and where he died in a boating mishap.

The 47-year-old Tucker resident was reported missing on Feb. 11 after a nighttime fishing excursion on Lake Lanier alone on his boat, and his body was found five weeks later.

The cause of death has not yet been established, according to Melissa Cummings of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, but there was "no apparent trauma." She told Patch that "it does not appear that he fell and struck his head...but cannot yet rule out other health issues, such as a heart attack."

Counts' close friend Vance Witt said, "it was an accident. He may have hit something." Witt said he often went out on the lake with Counts and that fishing at night was not at all unusual. "We always fished at night. Bass are attracted to lights."

Witt wants people to focus on his friend's life rather than his demise, telling Patch that Counts was not only an "outstanding fisherman," but also was a prosthetist by trade, building artificial limbs for military personnel injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. "He spent a lot of time with people who were angry. He was able to calm them down," Witt said.

Counts had another talent as well. "Great drummer. I was his mentor," Witt said. "Neil Peart and Rush were his favorite."

"He was a Christian and his faith was very important to him," added Witt. Counts married his wife Stacey at Lake Lanier, and they had no children. Mike Harris, another close friend, said, "Marty was truly one of a kind."

Counts' friends had a t-shirt made for him that depicted some of his favorite things. "The front is him hugging a fish and air-jamming at a Rush concert," Witt said. On the back is an excerpt from the book 'To Build a Fire' by novelist Jack London:

I would rather be ashes than dust.
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze, Than that it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, Than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to LIVE.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Related content on Tucker Patch:
Missing Lake Lanier Fisherman Is From Tucker
Search for Tucker Fisherman in Recovery Mode
Missing Tucker Man Found in Lake Lanier
Marty Counts of Tucker Confirmed Dead