Dr. Lily Jean Sanfilippo set out to fulfill a promise to her maternal grandfather about seeking a Mariner’s Medal for her father, the late Capt. Gus Sanfilippo of the Gloucester commercial fishing vessel named after his first born child.
However, these medals will be awarded to the family posthumously because Gus Sanfilippo was among the seven-member crew of the Lily Jean that sunk on Jan. 30.
Her father, who comes from many generations of Sicilian fishermen, participated in three separate emergencies on the high seas, from a sinking vessel to one on fire. These incidents occurred in 2000 with the Holly & Alexander, in 2007 with the Virginia Surf, and in 2011 with the Elizabeth Ann. But in his lifetime, Gus Sanfilippo never wanted the recognition, believing it was his responsibility to help others in an emergency at sea.
But in the wake of his death, Lily Jean Sanfilippo took the lead in gathering the details to take the steps to honor her grandfather’s wish. Those efforts will come to fruition at a public ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at Gloucester City Hall auditorium when her father will receive three Gloucester Mariner’s Medals, one for each incident.
This was an agonizing effort to undertake but it was a worthy one, said Lily Jean Sanfilippo, especially after a young woman stopped her at her father’s wake.
“I will always remember that moment when this young girl came through the line at the wake, and she was crying. She said, ‘I want to let you know that if your dad didn’t save my grandfather, I wouldn’t have him in my life.’ He was on the Virginia Surf,” said Lily Jean Sanfilippo. “That was really eye-opening. But it was heart wrenching for me. He was there for everybody else. It’s all just so sad.”
The idea to seek a mariner’s medal goes back more than a decade for the 29-year old captain’s daughter, so that comment was a kind of sign.
“It was a surreal moment,” said Lily Jean Sanfilippo. “My grandfather Leonard Sutera, my mom’s dad, told me for years that my dad 100% should qualify for a mariner’s medal because of all his rescue missions. Unfortunately my grandfather died in 2019. But he made me promise that I’d get those medals — and I was in the seventh grade at the time, never suspecting how things would change.”
After Sutera died, Lily Jean Sanfilippo begged her father to be recognized.
“My dad said no because it was his duty to help others. He said it’s what we do for people in distress on the ocean. He was so humble and he didn’t want any attention for it. Honestly, it’s extraordinary, the courageousness and willingness he had to help others. So now, even more so, this is so important for me and my family that he gets these medals because he so deserves them,” she said.
In all, his efforts helped to rescue or save the lives of nine crewmen.
“I am finally able to carry out my grandfather’s wishes,” she added.
The close-knit family shared memories of their beloved father and husband in anticipation of the public ceremony. Gloucester is among the few, or perhaps the only municipality in the nation that awards a mariner’s medal. But that is no surprise as the 403-year old Gloucester, the nation’s oldest seaport, was founded as a fishing settlement.
Lorie Sanfilippo, the wife of Gus Sanfilippo, recalled how her father-in-law came to this country when he was young and worked aboard the St. George, and her late husband learned to fish on another boat, the St. George II.
“The only thing he wanted to do was fish. Fishing is what he knew,” she said. “He was a skilled carpenter too but he always got brought back to fishing. He loved the water. He loved being out there. He was a perfectionist and he was good at it, and the people that were on the boat were his family. It was his home away from home, and he treated everyone like his family.”
The Sanfilippo family struggles each day with their grief, and deal with the pain hour by hour, and “minute by minute,” said Lorie Sanfilippo.
For Lily Jean Sanfilippo, she said she was particularly moved that the city’s Mariner’s Medal Committee chose to award three medals, one for each rescue mission.
“We always knew this job was so dangerous. We grew up with this, but this is all we knew,” she said.
The life of a fisherman’s daughter
In the early days after her father’s death, Lily Jean Sanfilippo received a note from Michael Jones, the president and CEO of Institution for Savings, the bank from which she was awarded a large college scholarship. When she was a high school senior, she wrote about her upbringing in her essays for college admission as well as for college scholarships.
“I wrote about my life as the daughter of a fisherman,” she said. “It told about all the hardships and what it made me as a person. And when everything happened, Mike Jones sent me a flower and a note that said he never forgot about my essay. He said ‘I want you to remember, and I will quote you, that this has made you the strong independent woman you are today.’ and I graduated 11 years ago so it was touching that he remembered.”
Lily Jean Sanfilippo, who graduated Gloucester High School in 2015, served as the vice president of her class. She later attended Salem State for four years, followed by another four years at New England College of Optometry.
She opened her practice in Gloucester on Oct. 3, 2023.
That very morning at 6:30 a.m., her father showed up with roses to surprise her on her first day.
“My dad was the best,” said Lily Jean Sanfilippo. “He was so proud, and he always called me his ‘doctor daughter.’ He helped me with a lot of the set up of the office with his carpentry. He was also a skilled carpenter and he built our home. He went through the carpentry shop at Gloucester High School, and he kept his contracting license active because he planned to help me with my house one day.”
Lorie Sanfilippo recalled when her two children were very young, they would stay in touch while their father was at sea by CB radio, telephone, texting and eventually FaceTime. That CB radio remains in their kitchen cabinet.
“We ‘Facetimed’ throughout the day when he was gone, so it never really felt like he was that far,” said Lorie Sanfilippo.
Their younger son, Anthony, did not take up the life of a commercial fisherman, instead following a career in business, a move supported by both his parents.
But Anthony, now 25, did like to go fishing when his father was on shore. They would go after stripers or tuna in a small motorboat.
“If it wasn’t dragging, it was striper fishing with Anthony, and if it wasn’t striper fishing, it was tuna fishing,” said Lily Jean Sanfilippo. “It was difficult for my brother to put the boat in without my dad this year. We didn’t even like going on the water. It is such a trigger. I don’t even like driving the Back Shore. Our whole life has been rocked and our hearts are just missing a piece — there is a huge hole.”
State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Ted Costa, a licensed captain, both of Gloucester, nominated Sanfilippo for these acts of heroism on the high seas.
“Dr. Sanfilippo was the driving force behind this initiative, and Ted Costa’s input helped others understand the gravity of what happened at sea,” said Tarr. “These were three remarkable incidents, each deserving of recognition with a Mariner’s Medal. His life is reflective of so many in the commercial fishing industry. He considers this part of the moral obligation that those earning a living at sea carry with them.”
Tarr and Vito Giacalone, a fishing industry representative, both said it is important to recognize these acts of courage on the high seas, noting that it’s an important tradition of Gloucester.
“The fishing community is proud of its heritage — no question about it,” said Giacalone. “Gus always thought that it was our duty as fellow seamen to help out. When someone’s life is in danger, you just go, and St. Peter put my buddy Gus in that position to get that distress call and never thought twice about it. Gus was the good Samaritan who cuts his trip short and hauls back, not worrying about economic consequences. And the deck hands are usually all on board because they instantly relate to what those in distress at sea must be going through. And I would pray to God that someone would come save us if we were in trouble.”
During the recent international dory races in Gloucester this summer, Gus Sanfilippo, also a life-long rower, was remembered when Billy Edmonds and Jerry Ciaramitaro took a memorial row in the inner harbor and threw a wreath into the ocean, never forgetting their friend and grieving his absence. They are not alone.
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.