Monument marks grave of Portuguese sailor

A Portuguese sailor who died fishing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland nearly 50 years ago now has a permanent marker on his grave in St. John's.

The monument was unveiled Tuesday during a ceremony at Mount Carmel Cemetery.

Dionisio Esteves was 26 years old and married for just a few months when he died in an accident onboard the Santa Maria Manuela. He was crushed between his swamped dory and the steel hull of the fishing vessel while unloading codfish.

The vessel was part of the Portuguese White Fleet, which has fished on the Grand Banks for centuries.

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Esteves was buried in St. John's in 1966. His grave was unmarked, and because cemetery records were destroyed in a fire, the site went undiscovered until 2012.

Since then, local historians and the Roman Catholic Church have held annual wreath layings, and raised the money for a permanent memorial, which is meant to recognize all Portuguese sailors who lost their lives fishing. 

Celestino Ribeiro, a Portuguese dory fisherman who fished with Esteves, travelled to St. John's from Portugal for the ceremony. 

Speaking through a translator, Ribeiro remembered the funeral for his friend.

"It was 49 years ago that we were here. There were 70 men crying and it was very painful because it was a very horror[ific] tragedy," he said. 

"It was very sad but today, all the images went through my mind when we were praying here, sad images but in the same time, happy with the solidarity of the Canadian people to do this. I'm feeling good by knowing that any time a Portuguese comes here to this cemetery, he's going to represented."