Kenneth Dana Toolis

FALMOUTH -- Kenneth Dana Toolis, 45, of South Datmouth died at sea Sunday, Dec. 14, 2003, after the scalloper Atlanta capsized.  He was the former husband of Christine (Trommenschlarger) Sylvia of Daytona Beach, Fla.

Born in New Bedford, the son of Kenneth Toolis of Lake Worth, Fla., and Dawn (Lavalette) Brown of Oceanside, Calif., he lived in New Bedford most of his life.

Mr. Toolis was a commercial fisherman on various vessels out of New Bedford.  He was a member of the New Bedford Elks Lodge No. 73, and he enjoyed fishing.

Survivors include his parents; his former wife; his maternal grandmother, Dorothy Lavalette of Oceanside; a son Cody Toolis of South Dartmouth; a daughter Nicole Toolis of Daytona Beach; two brothers Thomas Toolis of Portsmouth, R.I., and Christopher Toolis of Lake Worth; three sisters, Wendy Dumont and Kelly Toolis, both of New Bedford, and Bonney Hernandez of Lake Worth; an uncle, Stephen Lavalette of South Dartmouth; and several nieces and nephews.

When the scalloper Atlanta rolled and sank on December 13, 2003, 27 miles south of Chatham, surrounding vessels rushed to the rescue. The crew of the Ocean Reign recovered a life raft with five men from Atlanta an hour after the ship sank. Captain Jeff Kellogg, of the Ocean Reign, said the five men were nearly in shock. One of those men, Kenneth Toolis, fell from the life raft and drowned. Captain Francisco Pereira and crew member Stephen Viator went down with the ship. The Coast Guard recovered Mr. Pereira's body on December 14, but Mr. Viator's body was not found.

The survivors were Gilbert Bonnie, Fabian Ku, Ernest Silva, and Flavio Bolarinho.