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<p>SHAVERTOWN &#8212; Friends and colleagues find comfort that Dr. James Specter died doing something he loved &#8212; fishing.</p><p>On Tuesday, Specter was one of three people killed as a De Havilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter, a plane on floats, crashed during takeoff in southwest Alaska. The plane was transporting seven passengers to a remote river fishing spot in Alaska.</p><p>The Federal Aviation Administration has not yet determined the cause of the crash, according to ABC News.</p><p>Specter, along with Tony W. Degroot, 80, of Hanford, California, and James P. Fletcher, 70, of Clovis, California, were killed. Other passengers suffered injuries requiring hospitalization.</p><p>Specter, 69, resided in Shavertown with his wife, Joyln. The couple has a son, Kevin.</p><p>The family was not available for a comment Thursday.</p><p>Specter, originally from the Philadelphia area, earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin &amp; Marshall College in Lancaster and a Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Temple University in Philadelphia.</p><p>For nearly 40 years, Specter maintained a joint oral surgery practice with Dr. Ralph Zampetti in Provincial Towers on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;It would have been their 40th business anniversary in February 2016,&#8221; Heidi Keener, property manager at Provincial Towers and a former patient of Specter&#8217;s said.</p><p>Just two months ago, Keener found an old newspaper article with a picture of Specter and Zampetti from 1975 when they signed a lease to set up their oral surgery practice.</p><p>Keener remembers catching Specter in the hall as he came into work and showed him a copy of the article.</p><p>&#8220;He smiled and said, &#8216;Wow look at that,&#8217;&#8221; she said. &#8220;He was a very matter-of-fact kind of guy.&#8221;</p><p>When Specter&#8217;s death hit the news Tuesday, Keener was in disbelief.</p><p>&#8220;It broke my heart,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Thank God he was doing something he loved.&#8221;</p><p>Dr. Bruce Goeringer, a dentist in Shavertown, was also shocked by the news. Goeringer knew Specter for nearly 36 years on a personal and professional level.</p><p>&#8220;I referred patients to both Specter and Zampetti,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Goeringer recalled Specter as a skilled pilot who use to invite him on skiing trips.</p><p>&#8220;We would fly from Forty Fort to New England (Vermont) to ski,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We would ski until about 3 p.m. and be home for dinner the same night. He was an experienced pilot.&#8221;</p><p>But Goeringer did not think Specter flew anymore since an accident in 2007 left him and a passenger trapped for nearly an hour.</p><p>Specter was 60 years old at the time and crashed a single-engine plane during takeoff in Bucks County. Specter and his passenger, Laren Pitcairn, were en route to Canada for a fishing trip.</p><p>His love of fishing and hunting was a common subject between him and his hair stylist, Rochelle Aruscavage, owner of Classic Cuts located a few doors down from his practice.</p><p>&#8220;He was a very quiet person,&#8221; Aruscavage. &#8220;He would talk about hunting, fishing and politics. He spoke very highly about his son. It broke my heart when I heard the news (of his death).&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Specter </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_specter21.jpg</photo0><caption0>Specter </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Shavertown oral surgeon Dr. James Specter died doing something he loved