Kenneth Sugden, 29, Lost In River, Had Loved Boats Since Childhood

The Sugden family, which has proudly sent its men to sea for more than a century, has an old photograph everyone loves.

The picture shows Kenneth Sugden, maybe about 10 years old, standing on an apple box in the pilothouse of the steamship Virginia V. The ship's massive wheel dwarfs the boy.

Kenneth Sugden had yearned to be a ship's captain ever since those days.

He attained his goal. He commanded tugboats up and down the coast to Alaska and to Hawaii.

But working close to home last week, he was lost. Sugden apparently fell through a 4-foot-wide hole cut in a barge deck and disappeared May 15 in the Duwamish River.

First mate on a Crowley Maritime tugboat, Mr. Sugden was 29 years old.

While the official search has ended, the maritime community is still looking.

That's just the way the maritime community is. "When they're not out on jobs, Crowley boats are going out to look for him," said Greg Sugden, Mr. Sugden's brother, who works as a first mate on the state ferries Walla Walla and Spokane.

Last Saturday was a big day in Maritime Week - the day of the crowd-pleasing tugboat races. While the tugs tooted and roared on Elliott Bay, Kenneth Sugden's father, Earl, was aboard a Seattle Fire Department boat, slowing surveying the dark waters, looking for a sign of his son.

The elder Sugden is a former pilot of the Seattle fireboat, as well as former pilot of the 125-foot Virginia V steamer, from 1968 to 1982.

Kenneth Sugden was born Feb. 7, 1962. He grew up in Seattle and on Bainbridge Island and graduated in 1980 from Bainbridge Island High School.

During high school, he worked in the galleys of state ferries. As a youngster, he had worked as a cabin boy on the Virginia V.

"We were both running up and down the decks when we were little kids," recalled Greg Sugden. "I guess it just gets in your blood."

The sea has drawn Sugdens for generations.

Earl Sugden's father served as an engineer on the Old American Mail Line ships, and his grandfather was a cadet in the British Royal Navy.

His great-grandfather was Rear Admiral Sir Selwyn Schofield, who served for decades with the British Royal Navy. He served in the Crimean War and, as the topper to his career, commanded the naval escort (the HMS Terrible) in the expedition that laid the first transatlantic cable.

"Ken knew the history of the family, and he was very proud of his profession," Greg Sugden said.

Kenneth Sugden also was quick with a joke and remembered countless sea stories, his brother said.

Mr. Sugden is survived by his wife, Kennena, who lives at the couple's home in Marysville; a son, Kevin; and a daughter, Jennifer; his parents, Earl and Dorothy, of Poulsbo, Kitsap County; Greg, of Bainbridge Island; a sister, Cathleen Kujath, of Mukilteo; his maternal grandfather, Pat Mulvahill; his paternal grandmother, Adeline Knapman; and nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island.