It has been exactly 47 years since the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a violent Lake Superior storm about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay. That’s where Pam Johnson’s heart remains today.
“I’m a cook’s daughter, and he shouldn’t have been on that ship,” Johnson said, before boarding the Museum Ship Valley Camp in Sault Mich.
Although closed for the season, Sault Historic Sites made a special exception for the daughter of Edmund Fitzgerald crewman Robert Rafferty on the anniversary of his death.
When she saw two torn lifeboats and saw her father’s name in bold black letters in front of her, Johnson’s eyes filled with tears. He had a story to tell.
As much as Rafferty loved the water and cooking, his family meant everything to him.
“He was a good father,” Johnson said. “She cooked many times for our church and made big pots of spaghetti. I once asked him “How do you know when the spaghetti is done?”. He took a noodle and threw it against the wall. If it stuck, it was done. When we left our house, he turned off the oven. There were ten kilos of spaghetti underneath.’
While Johnson chose not to take up her father’s noodle-tossing habit, it did inspire her to cook.
“I like to cook and keep people happy,” Johnson said, smiling softly in happier moments. “I worked as a cook in a nursing home and school for many years. He was teaching me how to make things. He was very good at bread.”
Rafferty provided for his family by doing just that. He traveled the world, visiting places such as Japan and Bombay, India (now called Bombay).
“Every time he came into Toledo, where we grew up, I went on the boat,” Johnson said. “In 1965, my dad fell between the boats and broke his leg. He couldn’t sail for a while. I remember it because we had to walk to my brother’s graduation in 1965. We didn’t have a car so we had to walk. He had crutches. Everyone moved on. I stayed behind to walk with my dad because he was alone. This felt really good. He was such a good father.”
Before the infamous wreck that claimed all 29 lives, it seemed that fate had intervened to reunite father and son.
“When my brother was in Vietnam, Dad’s boat was there,” Johnson said. “He had the opportunity to go see his son during the Vietnam War … twice. He went there and came back. A year later, he did it again.”
Rafferty was called to the Edmund Fitzgerald in October, three weeks before it sank. Two other cooks had fallen ill and were unable to make the trip. Rafferty stepped up to fill in.
Captain Ernest M. McSorley and crew departed Duluth, Minnesota on November 9, 1975, carrying 26,116 tons of taconite for delivery to various Great Lakes ports.
At 7:10 p.m. on November 10, 1975, Arthur M. Anderson was close behind Fitzgerald. The Anderson had already been hit by two 35-foot waves, damaging its bottom.
A timeline on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald website shows the crew’s final transfers to Anderson:
Anderson: “Fitzgerald, this is Anderson. Did you check?” Fitzgerald: “Yes, we have.”
Anderson: “Fitzgerald, we’re about 10 miles behind you and we’re gaining about 1 1/2 miles an hour. Fitzgerald, there’s a target 19 miles ahead of us. So the target would be 9 miles ahead of you.”
Fitzgerald: “So, shall I clarify?”
Anderson: “Yes. It will pass to your west.”
Fitzgerald: “Well, okay.”
Anderson: “By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you doing with your problem?” Fitzgerald: “We’re holding our own.”
Anderson: “Okay, okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank sometime between 7:20 and 7:30 p.m
Johnson was 23 years old and eight months pregnant, living with her military husband in Georgia.
“We never got a call saying the boat sank,” he said. “My mom heard it on TV the next day.”
The couple had been happily married for nearly 30 years at the time.
“A lot of us didn’t know,” Johnson said. “My mom called on Monday, I believe. I wasn’t home, but my husband was. He came to pick me up and said, “You have to go home.” So, I went home and said, “What’s going on? Are we going somewhere?’ He said, “Wait, your dad was on a boat…” I knew what that meant. I looked down at the newspaper and there it was.”
Raftery never met his fourth grandchild, Jeremiah, who was born 36 days after the sinking.
“I was crying and I couldn’t say anything,” Johnson said, recalling her father’s service. “He was in Toledo. I had a five year old, four year old and two year old with a baby in the oven. So, I decided not to go. If I could ever take it back, I would. I could have a baby anywhere.”
47 years later, Johnson boarded Valley Camp to give her a way to remember everyone who went down with the Fitzgeralds.
“This is very emotional for me today,” Johnson said, pulling a piece of taconite out of her pocket in remembrance. “I know my dad was probably on that boat at some point in his life.”
Sault Historic Sites Museum curator Paul Sabourin gave Johnson and her boyfriend, John DeBeck, a personalized tour.
“I lead the SS Daniel J. Morrell research team,” DeBeck said. “It’s the third largest wreck in the Great Lakes. We ended up rewriting history about what caused this wreck.”
DeBeck and other researchers are at it again, soon to rewrite the history of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
“I can’t say too much about it right now, but I can tell you that the story of Edmund Fitzgerald is about to change dramatically,” DeBeck said. “I have to leave it right now.”
From there, DeBeck accompanied Johnson to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Paradise for a closed service at 6 p.m.
The shipwreck museum contains Edmund Fitzgerald’s 200-pound brass bell, recovered from the wreck on Tuesday, July 4, 1995.
It will ring again at 7:10 p.m. this afternoon.
