LAPUSH — Each name scrawled in a marble slab at the Quileute Marina has its own tale of death by river or by sea.
Quileute tribal members hope the new monument commemorating 17 boaters and fishermen will bring healing to their families and awareness of their deaths.
Tribal officials unveiled the Fisherman Memorial Stone on Wednesday before a crowd of about 40 people, including many who came to the marina to view their family members’ names.
“Maybe with this monument, it will help everybody come closer together, at least have some closure for the family,” Quileute Tribal Council Treasurer Bert Black said.
The monument includes the names of nine tribal fishermen who died on the Quillayute River or in the Pacific Ocean, three U.S. Coast Guardsmen killed during a 1997 rescue mission off LaPush, a Seattle fisherman who died in August 2001, and a Spokane-area pastor and his three grandsons who died one week later.
Bittersweet memorial
The most recent deaths symbolize a bittersweet string of tragedies off LaPush that convinced Coast Guard officials not to close Quillayute River station to save money.
Fisherman Robert Thomas, 74, was killed Aug. 22, 2001 after his boat lost anchor and was destroyed in the rocks and surf off Little James Island.
The Rev. Tom Starr, 67, and grandsons James Starr, 19, Andrew Floch, 19, and Ryan Floch, 21, were killed Aug. 29, 2001, when their boat apparently capsized off Little James Island in a fog bank.
“Even though it was a tragedy, they helped keep the Coast Guard here,” said Black, who came up with the idea of a memorial earlier this year.
Mortenson Construction of Seattle, which was working on the tribe’s new A-Ka-Lat Center, commissioned the memorial in exchange for gravel from the tribe, Black said.
The tribe chose to unveil the monument Wednesday, one year after the Starrs and Flochs were last seen alive.
Against the backdrop of a calm harbor, Woodruff removed a blanket covering the monument.
Family members approached to trace their fingers over the names of the dead.
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