Search and rescue: the Ben Symmes account

It's not every day, thank goodness, that you see an obituary for someone "lost at sea."

That's what I found earlier this week in the Anchorage Daily News.

The obit was for Benjamin Robert Symmes.

Remember him?

He was the 31-year-old crewman who fell off a salmon boat July 31 in Bristol Bay near Togiak.

Symmes grew up in Idaho and Alaska, and graduated from high school in Whitefish, Mont., the obit says.

"From the time he was in high school, Ben spent most summers working as a deckhand on his father's fishing vessel in Bristol Bay," it says.

The obit expresses gratitude toward his would-be rescuers, and includes some really positive news you can use:

"The family offers its profound thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska State Troopers and especially the fishermen, local volunteers and all those who donated time and resources during the search and rescue efforts.

"The Ben Symmes donation account has been established to support search and rescue efforts for commercial fishermen in Alaska. Contributions in Ben's honor may be made to the account at any Wells Fargo bank."