August 13, 2026 — Six months after the F/V Lily Jean sank off Cape Ann, Mass., the Gloucester fishing community gathered Saturday, Aug. 8, to remember the seven people lost aboard the vessel and other mariners who died over the past year.
The annual remembrance at Gloucester’s Fisherman’s Memorial carried particular weight this year following the Jan. 30 sinking of the 72-foot Gloucester-based groundfish trawler Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann.
All seven people aboard were lost: Capt. Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Freeman Short, Sean Therrien and NOAA fisheries observer Jada Samitt.
Family members, state officials and members of the community gathered Saturday at the memorial, where generations of Gloucester fishermen lost at sea are remembered.
“It feels like every time they do something like this, you relive it, that day in January,” Tiffany Leigh, girlfriend of Short, told WCVB.
State Sen. Bruce Tarr also spoke about how deeply the loss has affected a community accustomed to the dangers of working at sea.