GLOUCESTER, MASS. — The U.S. Coast Guard has released the names of the seven people aboard the ‘Lily Jean’, a fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Gloucester on Friday.
Those names include Accursio Sanfilippo, Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Sean Therrien, Jada Samitt, and Freeman Short.
It was Short’s first trip out with this vessel, as he wasn’t a permanent crew member.
His sister, Grace Bernaiche attended a memorial service with her family Sunday night.
“We’re processing the grief and it’s not ‘moving on,’ it’s ‘moving forward,’” Bernaiche said.
Bernaiche said her brother was someone full of life, always looking for the next adventure.
“I just accepted the situation as Freeman’s body and worldly self is here but his soul has moved on,” Bernaiche explained.
As a national guardsman for the past 12 years, Bernaiche said her brother would use his time outside of deployment to take on fun adventures like working as a fisherman, just like the three generations before him.
“Freeman is the fourth generation,” Bernaiche said. “Freeman was never a full-time fisherman but really enjoyed doing it, especially with my dad.”
Bernaiche said her brother was waiting for his next deployment to come and go, with plans afterwards to propose to his girlfriend, Tiffany.
“Tiffany, his girlfriend, was the love of his life,” Bernaiche said. “He really wanted to have a family and kids.”
Through her grief, Bernaiche said she’s holding onto memories of her brother, going back to their childhood.
“We had a red wagon, and we would all be in the red wagon, and he would pull us, his sisters in the wagon,” Bernaiche said between tears.
“Freeman was strong and funny, and he was also gentle and kind.”
She’s remembering him not only as a loving son and brother, but as a guardsman, an adventurer, and someone who embraced life fully.
“He wasn’t afraid of things like most people would be,” Bernaiche said.
Search efforts for the vessel were suspended on Friday after only being able to locate one body and an empty life raft.
The investigation into what caused the incident is ongoing, with involvement from the National Transportation Safety Board.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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