Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil to honor deckhand from Dulac missing in Gulf of Mexico
Hundreds gathered Monday evening at the Dulac Marina to light candles and console the family of a tugboat deckhand who went missing last week in the Gulf of Mexico.
Thomas Phillips, 35, was last seen about 10 p.m. Feb. 5 and was noticed missing the next morning when he was supposed to transfer off the Smith Invader near the Texas-Louisiana border. The Coast Guard joined other agencies in a 23-hour search that covered 206 square miles by boat and helicopter before calling an end to the operation. The United Cajun Navy is continuing to search for Phillips.
Family friend Susan Lovell organized Monday's vigil near Nang's Food Store in Dulac. More than 300 people attended.
His younger sister, Lesleyann Phillips, and his mother, Becky Parfait, said the weight of the tragedy has been difficult, but the support has meant a lot.
"We couldn't have imagined this turnout," Lesleyann said. "This put so much back into us, you can't even imagine."
"If he could see this right now," said Parfait, who stopped to compose herself.
Her daughter then continued for her.
"He brought communities together," Lesleyann said. "That was his mission, that was his goal."
Lovell said the vigil was meant to guide Phillips back to his family through the lights and prayers and help bring the family closure, one way or the other.
"It's to show a path for someone trapped in the dark," she said.
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Emotions were mixed among family and friends as some remembered and celebrated how much joy Phillips brought to others. Others who worked on boats were angered by the window of uncertainty left by the eight-hour gap between the time Phillips was last seen and the time he was determined missing.
Phillips was known as "T.J." by the Dulac community and "Tucker" by his friends. Thirteen people gathered in a circle, poured shots of Skol vodka and shouted, "Shots for T." Some in the group smiled and cheered his memory, while others hardened their faces and drank it as an obligatory but sad tribute. During the prayers, chants of "T.J." followed immediately behind "amen."
Phillips was remembered as a man who started life with little and worked hard for everything he had. He was a man who put his family before everything else, said everyone spoken with, but his community was second, before even himself.
"He would give you the shirt off his back, and he struggled to keep a shirt on his back," Sharon Luke said.
Friends told how after Hurricane Ida devastated the community along Bayou Grand Caillou, Phillips opened a stand and was cooking meals and handing them out for free. He later he took his truck and drove around delivering water.
A number of fishermen attended the vigil, and a shrimp boat was used to light the dock for everyone to see. The fishermen said anytime someone is lost to the sea it sends ripples throughout the seafaring community.
Shawn Parfait, the trawler's captain, told other fishermen that if he lost any of his crew, he could never go back out on the water.
Derrick "Dov" Parfait was close friends with Phillips and went out on fishing boats with him a number of times. He and Jonathan "Boo" Parfait, another childhood friend, were hurt and angered that no one checked on Phillips throughout the night.
His sister said she had spoken with him that day on the phone and he told her he was feeling unwell. Their last correspondence was via text message at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 5, when he wrote that someone was being sent to pick him up.
"That captain knew that boy was sick; he should've been checking on that boy every hour," Derrick Parfait said. "I do it on my boat when I'm on my shrimp boat. If I know someone ain't feeling good, I'm going to check on them every 30 minutes, hour or whatever."
Phillips was also an artist, and the Selucrey Sophisticats, a Mardi Gras marching club, attended the vigil in their white suits spray-painted with colorful designs on them. Phil Cohn was wearing a coat that was spray painted by Phillips with an image of the Tasmanian Devil character from the Looney Tunes cartoons.
Joe Langley, a past president of the club and one of its founding members, said Phillips was in talks about marching with them in a parade this year, as well as painting one of its vehicles. While that's unlikely to happen now, Phillips will be there in spirit, Cohn and Langley said. They said they club will dedicate Saturday's march in the Krewe of Mardi Gras parade in Phillips' honor.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Candlelight vigil honors deckhand from Dulac missing in Gulf of Mexico
