Detroit, MI - /PRNewswire/ -- Mariners' Church of Detroit is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Gordon Lightfoot on May 1st, 2023.
We are forever grateful to him for honoring the 29 men who lost their lives on November 10, 1975 in his immortal song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." That song referenced Mariners' Church and its past Rector, Bishop Richard Ingalls, ringing the bells 29 times to honor the crew of the Fitzgerald.
In honor of Gordon Lightfoot, Mariners' Church rang its bells 30 times at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Lightfoot's song included the line, "The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty number times…" recalling the early morning of Nov 11, 1975 as word of the Fitzgerald tragedy began to spread. Bishop Ingalls woke early that morning to ring the church's Brotherhood Bell to honor the Fitzgerald crew. Ingalls said he paused between each of the 29 pulls, allowing the sound to echo over the quiet city on that cold November dawn. Soon, community members and more than a dozen reporters had made their way to the church to learn about the shipwreck firsthand.