Names from the Ocean Ranger Disaster
Musings February 15th. 2007, 12:16pmValentine’s Day is never just Valentine’s Day for me, and I am sure it is true for many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, especially those who were around 25 years ago. It is the day before the anniversary of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. For many of us, February 15th is as recognizable a date as the 14th. Today is the 25th anniversary of the disaster, of the morning when the province woke up to hear the unthinkable, that so many men were lost in one fell swoop. An island used to painful losses at sea or on the ice, suddenly had this new, unprecedented horror. Men lost en masse with no survivors.
I did not know anyone on the Ocean Ranger. My surprise and sadness that day was about the enormity of it while others experienced it on a very singular level, no doubt aware of the hugeness of it all but enveloped in their own personal grief. So how to remember these men 25 years later? Men I did not know.
Well, I took some time to read each name and remember them not as just names or numbers or a part of a famous disaster we remember every year, but as fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, boyfriends, grandsons, uncles, cousins and friends; in terms of missed birthday parties, anniversaries, graduations, and wedding days; as children that would never be born and loves never found; as jokes not told and songs not sung; and as a goodnight kiss missed forever. Maybe you’d like to do the same and take a few minutes to read the names and remember someone you may not have known and the families and friends he left behind.
I am so very sorry for your loss, every one.
| Jim Dodd Derek Escott Cyril Greene Derek Holden Rick Sheppard Frank Smit Daniel Conway Terrance Dwyer Fred Harnum Randy Noseworthy John Pinhorn Dennis Ryan William Smith Woodrow Warford Tom Hatfield Arthur Dagg Kenneth Chafe Gerald Clarke Douglas Putt Gary Crawford Norman Halliday Wayne Miller Gord Mitchell Perry Morrison Greg Caines Wayne Drake Cliff Kuhl Robert Wilson David Chalmers Robert Howell Robert Fenez Jack Jacobson Robert Madden George Augot Nicholas Baldwin Kenneth Blackmore Thomas Blevins David Boutcher Wade Brinston Paul Bursey Norman Dawe |
Thomas Donlon Joseph Burry Leon Droddy William Dugas Domenic Dyke Andrew Evoy Randell Ferguson Ronald Foley Melvin Freid Carl Fry George Grandy Guy Garbeau Regineld Gorum Capt. Clarence Hauss Ron Heffernan Gregory Hickey Robert Hicks Albert Howell Harold LeDrew Robert LeDrew Michael Maurice Ralph Melendy Ken O’Brien Paschal Joesph O’Neill George Palmer Clyde Parsons Donald Pieroway Willie Powell Gerald Power Donald Rathbun William Smith Ted Staplton Benjamin Kent Thompson Craig Tilley Gerald Vaughn Michael Watkin Robert Winsor Stephen Winsor Robert Arsenault Darryl Reid Greg Tiller |
Names provided by Memorials Online.
Tina Chaulk is a writer who lives in Chamberlains, Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador, with her husband, two sons and dog. Both her novels, A Few Kinds of Wrong and this much is true, were published by 
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February 16th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Tina, like you, I didn’t know any of the victims directly. I was 14 when this tragedy happened. I wondered how I would/could post about an event that was tragic, but not affecting me personally. I wondered if I would do it justice. I chose not to try, out of respect. But you nailed it. As I read down through the list, I couldn’t help but wonder if I did know any of them. With many commonly Newfoundland names on the list it is likely that I know folks who were directly affected, that did suffer the loss at a personal level.
Makes one realize, 25 years later, what we’ve been taking for granted is all a gift. A privilege we must enjoy until it is taken away from us.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Thanks, Steve. Sometimes remembering something sad can make us appreciate things more. I’m glad you pointed that out.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I am one of the ones personally affected by this disaster…. my fatherWilliam A Smith (Canada) was lost on the rig.
It amazes me how as the years moves on how many people tend to forget about this disaster.
It also scares me that if we forget what happened we might tend to relive the past and this might happen again. I pray and hope that I will be proven wrong.
Thanks
RIP Dad!
September 7th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Thanks Tina.I lost my uncle on The Ranger and it’s nice to know that people remember and still care.I was only 13 but i remember that day always. Bless you George and your coworkers.I will never forget you.Till we meet again… Patty VanDermark
September 25th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
hey this is davin jacobson I was related to jack on of the crew members that died on the ocean ranger i was only 7 when this happened. I never really knew my uncle jack but I read the profil and now i know just a little bit more about that tradic day.and I just wanted to say that who ever but this together is an amazing person.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Hi,
I knew Tom Hatfield. When I was an undergrad at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., Tom taught me how to thread a film projector for the university film society. We would meet on Sunday afternoon, before the club screening, in the projection room of the theatre. We’d preview each movie, and he’d show me how to splice a break, how to change the tension on the reels to prevent jumping and catching. He wore a woolen tuque, had a great sense of humour, and we watched every film together one Sunday a month, for over a year. I have never forgotten him, or the coverage of this terrible event.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:47 am
I was offered a job on the Ranger, but declined the job when I was accepted at university. I remember coming downstairs on the morning of the disaster and being told the news, I could not stand and just sat on the stairs to keep from falling. For me, Valentine’s Day is not just Valentine’s any more, I guess in the same way that for any Newfoundlander July 1 is not just Canada Day
February 21st, 2009 at 1:07 am
The Ocean Ranger Disaster is a tragedy that I will never forget. William Smith was my uncle.
Thank you for posting this.
Connie
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:56 am
I was indeed directly affected. My Uncle was on the Ranger when it went down. He was the fun loving free spirited cook on the rig.
I was at my Aunt’s house the morning that the call came in. I will never forget that morning and all the heartache that it caused to all of our family. My Uncle Ted (Terrance Dwyer) was never found.
He always joked and told us that if the Ranger ever sank him and his buddy would climb to the top of the rig. I guess that never happened since it sank sideways.
My Aunt passed away last year and I think she was looking forward to meeting him again. It was a long a painfull life for her and my cousin.
I love you and miss you very much. And I do hope you two can finish the life you started together, cause everyhing you left here on earth is taken care off.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My great uncle was a victim to this tragedy. Even though i barely knew him i still loved and missed him. He was Domenic Dyke, if anyone is wondering. I still wonder how something like this could have happened, why they didn’t have life boats or anything that could have spaired their lives and the mourning of others. I know that a lot of others feel the same way as em and probably worse and i think that everything has a reason for happening and i would like to find the reason for this tragedy. But until then, i wish everyone who has to suffer the best of luck to evidentally try to get over teh mourn and live life before you loose it.
February 28th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I thought there were 84 crew members you only names 82 .
February 15th, 2011 at 9:37 am
[...] are doing the same. If you’d like to read the post that led to the comments, you can find it here on this site or on the original blog site here. (I did not include one comment pointing out that while there [...]
May 24th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
My father, George Gandy, was among those lost aboard the Ocean Ranger. His name is sometimes listed wrongly as George Grandy. We plan to visit St. John’s later this year to view the memorial.
February 15th, 2012 at 9:52 am
[...] A post I wrote five years ago, about the men lost on the Ocean Ranger, is the most popular post on this blog and it still continues to receive a lot of views, and some comments, over on my long abandoned blogspot blog. It is a place where people leave remembrances of their family members who were lost and even where people post and email me to look for long lost family members connected to someone who was lost on the oil rig. This morning, I listened as the names of the men who died thirty years ago were read out on the radio. When I wrote that post, I didn’t know any of the names but this morning many sounded familiar because they were men connected now to the people who had posted comments of remembrance and loss. [...]