Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== The Blade, Toledo, OH Sunday, February 23, 2003 Section A, Page 13 ROY 'AL' BOTTRELL, 1919 - 2003 Ship's engineer helped in search for lost freighter ROY 'AL' BOTTRELL, who worked on Great Lakes freighters for most of his life, including 24 years as chief engineer on the William Clay Ford - sister vessel of the Edmund Fitzgerald - died Wednesday in Whitehouse Country Manor. He was 84. He had dementia, his wife, WANDA, said. MR. BOTTRELL, of Perrsyburg, re- tired from the Ford Motor Co. fleet in 1985. Aboard the William Clay Ford, he ran the engine room. "He was in charge of making things run right. He couldn't pass the buck," his wife said. "It was a hard job." His daughter MELINDA MICHAELIS said: "A ship's captain is first. Then the chief engineer is second." The William Clay transported taconite - iron ore pellets - from Duluth, Minn., to the Ford Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich. "He would be home from four to eight hours about every six days," his daughter said. "That could be in the middle of the night. And that went on from March to December or January. He was a very indepen- dent man, and he just liked that solitude, I believe." His wife said: "He didn't make any rash moves - rather on the quiet, reserved side. He wouldn't rattle." On Nov. 10, 1975, the William Clay was at anchor behind White- fish Point when the Edmund Fitz- gerald disappeard during a gale- force storm in Lake Superior. The Coast Guard called on the William Clay after the disappearance. "They had to search all night," his wife said. The Great Lakes Maritime Insti- tute honored the captain and crew of the William Clay for their valor in leaving safe harbor to search for the Fitzgerald during the storm. The William Clay was sold and, eventually, scrapped. The pilot- house was removed for display at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, on Belle Isle, in Detroit. MR. BOTTRELL was among the speakers in 1991 at the dedication of the pilothouse, his wife said. MR. BOTTRELL was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and graduated from high school there. "He watched the freighters go by in the locks. It was his des- tiny," his wife said. After high school, he was hired to work on the boats. His first job was shoveling coal into the boiler. He was in the Army during World War II and was captured by the German Army. He was held in a camp in Poland until the war ended. In retirement, he and his wife traveled the United States and visited Europe. He sailed Lake Erie on his sailboats. MR. BOTTRELL and his first wife, SHIRLEY, married Jan. 14, 1956. She died Nov. 17, 1984. Surviving are his wife, WANDA, whom he married July 3, 1986; daughters MELINDA MICHAELIS and AMY LYNN; stepdaughter, MARGARET GOLDBERG, and four grandchildren. Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the Witzlerl-Shank Mortuary, Perrysburg, where the body will be after 2 p.m. today. The family requests tributes to Zoar Lutheran Church, Perrys- burg. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more of our growing collection of FREE online information by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ ===========================================================================