Henry F. Zalewski

A native of New Bedford, Henry Zalewski had been a fisherman since 1938. He was a crew member of the Marie and Eleanor when the skipper and cook were washed overboard off Chilmark in the 1944 hurricane.

Mr. Zalewski was survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Nunes) Zalewski, and three children: Sonia, 7; Henry Jr., 6; and Nancy Ann, 3. At the time of his death, he had not seen his wife and children for nearly five months. They had gone to California to visit Mrs. Zalewski's brothers on September 1, returning home on January 22, when Mr. Zalewski was at sea.

He was also survived by two brothers, Walter of New Jersey and William of New Bedford; two sisters, Mildred Jakowiek of New Bedford and Anna Kowalski of Boston; and a half-sister, Josephine Zalewski of Boston.

The Doris Gertrude,  with a crew of eleven, was dragging for scallops on the south side of Georges Bank on January 13 when bad weather caused her to secure her fishing gear and jog in location approximately 150 miles east by south of Pollock Rip Lightship. The vessel was not seen again.

On January 26, the owner of the ship reported to the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Boston that the Doris Gertrude was overdue. A Coast Guard search continued until February 3. None of the men's bodies were recovered. Eighteen children were left fatherless.