Louis Bauchan, America’s last living lightkeeper to serve in the old U.S. Lighthouse Service, passed away on Easter Sunday. He was 91, and even in his final years he was an active member of the lighthouse community–a small band of preservationists who maintain the beacons for current and future generations. Before GPS satellites rendered lighthouses obsolete as navigational devices, automation rendered keepers like Bauchan obsolete. But they saved many lives in their day, and often endured horrible isolation to do their jobs. Bauchan and his colleagues were ordinary Americans, and heroes.