Deer Isle fisherman mourned by many Edward Smith remembered as family man

DEER ISLE – The fisherman presumed lost at sea Thursday by the Coast Guard was remembered in his grieving hometown as a family man, a good friend and a hardworking fisherman.

The search for Edward Smith, 36, of Deer Isle was called off Wednesday evening, Coast Guard officials said Thursday.

Surviving crew members of the scallop boat Northern Wind told rescuers they saw Smith early Monday morning going overboard the sinking 50-foot vessel. The cause of the boat’s sinking was not known.

“He went under the water and never resurfaced,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Kelly Newlin said.

Smith could not swim and was not wearing a life jacket, Newlin said.

Crew members Andrew Joseph and Sean Balestraci were rescued Wednesday morning from a life raft about 63 nautical miles east of Nantucket after spending two and a half days on the open ocean.

They told rescuers that Smith, who was the boat’s master, was not able to get aboard the raft.

“It’s a sad, incredible loss,” Nancy Gilbert of the Stonington Lobster Co-op said Thursday. “People are still in shock down here.”

Smith fished for lobster out of Stonington and was remembered as a kind, quiet man who would help anybody, Gilbert said.

“He had eyes that smiled as much as his face did,” she said. “He was just somebody you wouldn’t mind standing next to in a crowd.”

Smith was married to Jean Smith and was stepfather to Jessica, 21, Johnathan, 18, father to Tabitha, 14, and grandfather to Madelyn.

He was known as a dedicated family man who was devoted to his wife.

“We could only hope that our husbands loved us as much,” Gilbert said.

The fisherman attended Deer Isle-Stonington High School but spent most of his life on the water, friends remembered.

“He was an extremely good man on the boat,” Scott McGuire said. “He was always working on something, working on his boat.”

McGuire, captain of the lobster boat Miss Whitney, was a long-time friend of Smith’s. The fisherman was always careful, McGuire recalled, and did a job right.

“He was fussy about how he worked on stuff … he wasn’t scared to get his fingers wet or dirty,” he said. “I had faith in him. I wish he was sitting right here with me right now.”

Smith had left Maine in the middle of July to go scalloping off Cape Cod. The work can be more dangerous than lobster fishing, McGuire said, but the money can be good.

News of Smith’s loss was hitting the fishing community hard.

“It’s pretty much on everybody’s mind,” George Trundy, manager of the Stonington Lobster Co-op, said. “You can’t believe it happened, it shouldn’t have happened, but it did.”

A fund has been set up to help Edward Smith’s family. Donations can be made to the Ed Smith Fund, Bar Harbor Banking & Trust, 25 Church Street, Deer Isle, ME 04627.