Fishermen's names added to memorial: Arctic Rose crew among 21 remembered

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A bell at Fishermen's Terminal tolled 21 times yesterday, bonding families and friends of fisherman lost at sea in an annual fellowship of sorrow that spans generations and national borders.

Hundreds gathered to pay homage to the 21 men whose names were added to the Fishermen's Memorial, including 15 who died April 2 when the fishing trawler Arctic Rose sank in the Bering Sea.

"These men worked hard so they could live, and so their children and families could live, a good life," Christopher Breen, grief coordinator for the Seattle Fishermen's Memorial Committee, told the assembled mourners.

"Their work was very hard and very dangerous," Breen said. "They are ennobled in death because their purpose was noble - to provide for themselves and their families."

After the service, Pam Myers, whose nephew, Dave Rundall, 34, was captain of the Arctic Rose, bent to comfort another woman who was leaning over the edge of a pier, crying as she clutched the photo of another crew member who had died.

21 who died Those who were remembered: John Wick (1923); Harry Modesette Jr. (1998); Richard William Fitzgibbon III (2000); Cuong "Mike" The Dang (Northern Eagle, 2001); Douglas Rowe and Roman Telak (Amber Dawn, 2001); Shawn Bouchard, Aaron Broderick, Jimmie Conrad, Kerry Egan, Alejandro Ortiz Espino, Edward Haynes, G.W. Kandris, Kenneth Kivlin, Mike Olney, Jeff Meincke, Angel Mendez, James Mills, Alejandro Cortez Opoll, Justino Opoll Romero and Dave Rundall (Arctic Rose, 2001).

"You don't know me, but I'm so, so sorry," Myers told her.

The sentiment was shared by many others at yesterday's ceremony at the bronze and granite memorial, now engraved with more than 640 names of those lost at sea from the Seattle area's fishing community.

Friends and family members laid flowers at the foot of the memorial and comforted one another as they remembered their loved ones.

Myers said: "It's helpful to be with others who are sharing their losses."

Part of the ceremony was conducted in Spanish for the benefit of mourners who had traveled from Texas and Veracruz, Mexico, to remember several Mexican immigrants who had worked aboard the Arctic Rose.

And time, as well as distance, separated some of the fishermen honored yesterday.

The name of John Wick, who perished at sea in 1923 while fishing for herring, was among those newly engraved on the memorial. His son, also named John Wick, was among the 20 or so family members gathered for the occasion.

Wick said his father died a month before he was born, and although it was a long time ago, he sympathized with the families who gathered to mourn more recent tragedies. "It made it hard at times, losing my father," said Wick, now 77.

It has been a tough year for local fishermen.

In addition to the Arctic Rose, the Bering Sea claimed the lives of two men aboard the Amber Dawn on March 5. Earlier this year, a man fell ill with pneumonia aboard the Northern Eagle and later died.

Nationally, about 250 people a year die in commercial-fishing related incidents, making it one of the most dangerous occupations in the country.

Nevertheless, many are still lured to the ocean to earn their livings.

"It is hard to explain what draws someone to sea," said Jim McManus, chairman of the fisherman's committee. "You almost have to experience it to understand."

Jim Brunner can be reached at 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com.