November 13, 2002

'It's a hard life out there'

Maritime Academy ceremony honors lost mariners

By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer

      Some came to remember family members. Others gathered to honor lost friends. Several attended to pay homage to a hard way of life on the open water.
      Each of the more than 50 people gathered for the 27th annual Mariners Memorial Service Monday at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy had their own reason for attending the ceremony held to remember and honor mariners who have perished on the Great Lakes.
      "I've only missed two in all the years they have been having these services," said Ray Plamondon of Traverse City. Plamondon, who spent a dozen years on the Great Lakes, was on Lake Michigan the night in 1958 when the Carl D. Bradley went down claiming 33 of 35 crew members.
      "This always brings back so many memories, good and bad. I still have a certain amount of water in my blood stream, there's just something about the business that won't let you go," he noted.
      Memories are what keep Joan Bartell and her daughter Carla Bartell-Wood coming back year after year.
      "I always hate this time of year," said Joan, whose husband, Carl was on board the Bradley.
      "My daughter was only three at the time. Even after 40-some years it is still hard," she said.
      Alan Seeley, who worked on the Great Lakes for nine years and went to school with Bartell, came to remember his friend and the way of life they shared.
      "It's a hard life out there. There is just no way to get around that," Seeley said.
      Duane Rickle of Rogers City, who retired after 42 years on the Great Lakes, knows just how hard that life can be.
      "It's good to remember all the guys that have perished. I was out there searching for bodies when the Cedarville went down in 1965 in the Straits of Mackinac. That's something you don't forget," Rickle said.
      The Great Lakes Maritime Academy held the first memorial service to honor academy graduate David Weis who was lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald when it went down on November 10, 1975.
      "It's wonderful that we can do this here so the community can come and pay tribute," said John Berck, admissions coordinator for the academy. "This is a very close knit environment. It is important for us to come together and remember - we choose to remember."