Long-time Sitka resident Dave Turcott passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of August 29, 2026, at the age of 81. Although he had been diagnosed with cancer and was in treatment, he was responding well and had a good prognosis. He felt good and looked good, making his death an unexpected and bewildering shock to family and friends.
Dave was born on April 25, 1945, in Seattle, Washington, to Richard and Jean Turcott, and never strayed far from the water even in his childhood. His parents were devoted fishers, and his earliest memories were of napping under the bow of a small boat on the waters of Puget Sound and Neah Bay. As a junior in high school, he bought a retired boat and hand-trolled commercially in Neah Bay, as well as deck-handing on a gillnetter in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Never a city boy, after high school Dave headed north to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks where he studied marine biology and earned his bachelor and master’s degrees. Dave had never sung before in his life, but was possessed of considerable musical talent he didn’t know he had. One day, the director of the Choir of the North spotted him outside the door of the rehearsal room and insisted that he audition. Dave was pronounced to have a fine baritone voice and the director insisted that he join the choir. There, he met Cynthia Blissard, a music major. They were married in June 1968 and moved to Sitka not long afterward. Over the years, he enjoyed singing in church choirs and a barbershop quartet.
Dave taught at Mt. Edgecumbe High School until 1974 when he joined the faculty of Sheldon Jackson College as a biology instructor. He taught marine science and played an instrumental role in building the college's educational salmon hatchery. He had his office in the Sage Building, which is now home to the Sitka Sound Science Center.
In 1981, Dave and Cynthia bought the 100-year old Mayflower, a 50-foot power troller, which he fished for the next 26 years. The family, which now included three children, enjoyed many summers fishing the Mayflower in Tebenkof Bay. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the family lived several years in Port Alexander. There, Dave fished winter kings and taught grades 6 through 12 at the local school. In Port Alexander, he split wood, hunted deer, and made many lifelong friends, gathering a wealth of stories along the way. After the family settled back in Sitka in 1994, Dave trolled out of Port Armstrong in lower Chatham Strait in the summer months. He owned several boats in his lifetime, including a derelict he painstakingly rebuilt in his front yard and named the Dancing Girl.
In 2009, after 41 years of marriage, Cynthia passed away from cancer. During her long illness, Dave sold his boat and permit, believing that his fishing days were over, but eventually he was ready to get back on the water. In 2012, he bought the Hazel B, a beautiful wooden troller built in 1936, and resumed fishing out of Port Armstrong. In 2014, he married Angela Hecker, a landlubber from Anchorage. She joined him on the boat for several seasons, where she had a lot to learn about fishing.
Dave retired from fishing in 2025, after more than sixty years enjoying the lifestyle he was so perfectly suited for. He sold the Hazel B to Ben Contag, a former student at Sheldon Jackson College. For many years Ben has managed the hatchery at Port Armstrong and so the boat happily remains there on Dave’s favorite fishing grounds. In recent years, Dave devoted a great deal of time to writing down his fishing stories to share with others.
Dave is survived by his wife, Angela, Sitka; children Charles, of Florida, and Mary and Laura, and son-in-law Jason Eisenbeisz, all of Sitka; four grandchildren, Naquoia, Steven (Bo), Francesca, and Leo; brother Bruce and sister-in-law Priscilla of Olympia, Washington; nephews Cruz and Foster; and a great-nephew and great-niece. And not to be overlooked, Alice, a pretty little tabby cat, who adored him as much as he adored her.
Dave’s ashes will be scattered on the waters that had provided his livelihood and given him so much pleasure for so many years.
A memorial will be held 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Sitka United Methodist Church, 303 Kimsham Street, followed by an ice cream social. Overflow parking is available up the street at the Kimsham ball field.
Video of the program can be watched on the church's Facebook page, The United Methodist Church of Sitka, for at least a week."
