Two decades ago midcoast fisherman Gary Thorbjornson went to sea and met the fate that befalls too many in his dangerous line of work.
After Thorbjornson’s vessel, the Sirius, sank in 2005, taking Thorbjornson down with it, the folks in Port Clyde, Maine, decided they needed to honor the memories of those who go out and don’t come home.
The village this fall will be marking the 20th anniversary of the Fishermen’s Memorial at the Marshall Point Lighthouse & Museum.
The memorial, a five-foot-high black granite tablet, “stands as a tribute to local fishermen who have been lost at sea since 1941,” the museum website explains.
“Mounted on a beautifully crafted compass rose, the memorial offers a place of remembrance and reflection for the community and visitors alike.”
The memorial ceremony also includes the annual blessing of the fleet.
Fundraising for the memorial began after Thorbjornson died at age 41 on July 13, 2005.
“The engraving of the fisherman on the memorial is of my good friend Gary Thorbjornson,” Jeff Smith of Owls Head said on Facebook. “It’s stunning, and looks just like him. Beautiful place to visit with a nice little museum of local history there as well in the old keeper’s house.”
Back on that July day in 2005, the Sirius, loaded with 10,000 pounds of groundfish, was taking on water as the crew was preparing to head home.
Crew members hailed the fishing vessel Irene & Alton by cell phone, and reported they were abandoning ship.
Thorbjornson was heading below deck to fetch survival suits when the boat rolled into the sea, tossing him and two crewmen overboard.
He’d made sure his son and another young fisherman had their survival gear before going back inside his sinking 50-foot ship to retrieve his own gear.
Garrett Thorbjornson, 17, the captain’s son, and crewman David Wilgus, 19, got to the life raft and shared one survival suit. They fired several flares into the sky, and within an hour were rescued by the Irene & Alton.
Gary Thorbjornson went down with the ship.
Through the years, Port Clyde’s fishing community has used the end-of-the-season fall gathering to come together to remember the commercial fishermen and lobstermen lost at sea.
The Thorbjornson family has been struck hard by the sea, and not just once.
Gary’s brother, Travis, 54, of Warren died in 2021 after apparently falling from his skiff off Port Clyde. His obituary said he considered his older brother his best friend.
Their father, Edward Thorbjornson, a Tenants Harbor man who fished all his life, died in December at the age of 85, having lost two of his four children to the sea before he passed away.
Fishing is considered the most dangerous industry in the world, with the highest fatality rate of any occupation.
It’s also a most-honorable way to earn a living, despite its dangers.
