Eugene J. “Gene” Renko, 89, died June 21 in Superior. A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Mr. Renko was a Great Lakes seafarer for 43 years before retiring in 1982 as a chief engineer for Cleveland Cliffs. During World War II, he served as an oceangoing merchant mariner. He was a longtime member of the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.

Capt. Leonard V. Olsen Sr., 89, died June 24 in his native Duluth. He became a Great Lakes deckhand at 17 and rose through the ranks to become a captain for Interlake Steamship Co. He retired in 1980 after 46 years of maritime service. He was a member of the local chapters of the International Ship Masters Association and U.S. Propeller Club and the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.

Capt. Bill E. Jeffery, 83, the first captain of the 1,000-foot lake vessel Presque Isle, died July 29 in Duluth. Capt. Jeffery, who resided in the Duluth suburb of Carlton, was in command of the Presque Isle for its first 15 years. Earlier in his 47-year maritime career, he was the last captain of the Clifford F. Hood before that vessel was retired by U.S. Steel Corp. He also had been a pilot of oceangoing ships with Upper Great Lakes Pilots, Inc. He was a Duluth native and a member of the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.