Detroit Blessing of the Fleet remembers those lost as shipping season approaches

Detroit — Ship captains, cadets and other uniformed personnel from the United States and Canada gathered Sunday at Mariners' Church in Detroit to receive blessings for themselves, their crews, their families and boats.

The church on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit has held the Blessing of the Fleet service for 60 consecutive years, although this was the first time for the Rev. Todd Meyer, who joined Mariners’ as its 20th pastor last summer.

Meyer said the ceremony is held not only to "commemorate those ... who perished at sea," but also to offer prayers for the safety and protection of sailors as the new shipping season approaches.

Capt. Kathy McGraw read the names of the 30 Great Lakes sailors and others who perished in Michigan waterways in 2023.

During the reading, members of the International Ship Masters' Association tolled the Octorara Bell, a remnant of a ship of the same name, that now serves one purpose only: to honor fallen seamen. Octorara is an Iroquois word that means “long remembered.”

The event also honored military personnel who sacrificed their lives with flowers and flags representing lodges and fleets of vessels that harbor together.

Peggy Pennock, the church's secretary, said the service was for "anybody who's associated with the shipping season or ships freight on the Great Lakes.

"... The reason we have this service is because there's very little travel on the lakes during the winter because the (Great) Lakes freeze ... so you open up the shipping season in March because that's when things start to thaw out," Pennock said.

The service featured music by the church's choir and 4,100-pipe organ as well as the presentation of the Captain Lewis Ludington Award that commemorates the ongoing work of the International Ship Masters' Association.

This year’s award winners are Capt. George T. Lisner and Capt. William J. Rabatsky.

Lisner said some of his service includes educating students about the maritime industry on the Great Lakes as well as distributing Christmas trees to over 30,000 "deserving families that never had a tree before," in Chicago this year.

"I'm very honored. ... It's got a long history and something that's respected," Lisner said. "The recipients are being honored for the services that they've performed over a long period of time, and the acknowledgment of it helps support the interest in others doing such work: volunteering and accomplishments."

Mariners’ Church of Detroit, a state and national historic landmark and one of the oldest structures on the Detroit riverfront, was founded in 1842 as a place for visiting seamen from around the world to worship.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

@_myeshajohnson