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Missing couple case: Memorials scheduled for Dennis Gerwing

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COLUMBIA -- Private memorial services for Dennis Gerwing, 54, the only person publicly linked to the disappearance of an affluent Hilton Head Island couple, will be held in Columbia and in Louisville, Ky., his original home town, according to an obituary published today in The (Columbia) State newspaper.

The obituary did not list a specific time or date for those services.

Gerwing, the last known person to have seen John and Elizabeth Calvert, was found dead March 11 in the locked bathroom of a Sea Pines timeshare condominium in what the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has called a suicide. Authorities said Gerwing used a serrated steak knife to take his own life. He had been named a "person of interest" in the case.

Gerwing, the chief financial officer of The Club Group, had handled the books for John Calvert's four island businesses, including one that operates the Harbour Town Yacht Basin and another that rents out 125 vacation properties.

Those close to the couple have said the Calverts planned to confront Gerwing during a meeting March 3 about missing money.

The couple was reported missing March 4.

The obituary called Gerwing "a beloved son, brother, uncle and dearest friend (who) left us too early in life on March 11, 2008. Dennis will be greatly missed. He was a kind and generous person who helped many struggling people to build better lives. Dennis was a CPA, having graduated from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. Following graduation, he joined the Arthur Anderson accounting firm and moved to Indianapolis and Denver, before joining Resorts International in Hilton Head as their CFO. He helped transition ownership of various Hilton Head properties on numerous occasions and was the CFO of Club Group, a golf course and resort management company."

Survivors include "his father, Morris Gerwing; sister and brother-in-law, Pat and Jim Yocum; brother and sister-in-law, Fred and Beth Gerwing; and nieces and nephews, with whom he loved sharing life. Dennis also had many friends in both Columbia and Hilton Head Island who he considered family, including Nancy Barry and Heidi. He was predeceased by his mother, Mary Helen Gerwing."

The obituary asks that memorials be made to "the Home of the Innocents, 1100 E. Market Street, Louisville, Ky. 40206,

an important charity to Dennis's mother and father, or to Pets, Inc., 300 Orchard Drive, W. Columbia, S.C. 29170."

Dunbar Funeral Home of Columbia is handling the arrangements.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Saturday he had no updates to offer on the investigation into the couple's disappearance.

Tanner said Wednesday that hopes of finding the couple alive were dwindling.

John Calvert, 47, and Elizabeth Calvert, 45, a Savannah business attorney, split their time between their yacht in Harbour Town and a home in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood.

The (Columbia) State newspaper contributed to this report.

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