Coast Guard veteran and fisherman Manuel G. Macara Jr. of Truro died peacefully on March 23, 2024 at home with his children by his side. He was 89.
Manny, or Junior, as he was known by friends and family, was born on July 11, 1934 in Provincetown, the son of the late Manuel G. Macara and Inez Chapman Macara.
Born into a fishing family — his grandfather is considered one of the first Portuguese fishermen in Provincetown — Manny began his seafaring life when he was about eight, and “my first pay was $5 a week,” he said in a 2019 interview. He fished with his father and brother on Victory I.
He graduated in 1952 from Provincetown High School, where he was named “Handsomest Boy” and “Class Pest.” The motto he chose was “My mother bore me in a seaport town, I wear the sea as others wear a crown.”
Soon after graduation, Manny enlisted in the Coast Guard and served for 26 years, mainly in Massachusetts and Maine. While stationed at the Biddeford Pool Coast Guard Station in Maine, he met Patricia A. O’Leary, whom he married in 1955. The couple had four children.
After attaining the rank of Chief Warrant Officer, he was made “captain” of a 180-foot buoy tender, responsible for maintaining buoys from Cape Cod to New Hampshire. During his time as chief of the Race Point station, he led efforts to save boats from being driven onshore in a hurricane and received a unit commendation for his actions. He also used his buoy tender to cut through the ice in Provincetown Harbor to help fishing boat crews keep working.
Retiring from the Coast Guard in 1978, Manny built a house in Truro and returned to fishing, at first on Victory II with his brother and then on his own 60-foot dragger, which he bought in Maine and named Patsea to honor his wife, Patsy.
But he knew the fishing industry was in danger. “When I was in the service,” he wrote, “and saw those Russian trawlers herding fish and taking them from our waters, I knew that this was the first step in losing the industry.” Pollution, he noted, also posed a significant threat.
He was an avid golfer. Thirteen years into his second fishing career on the Patsea, Manny took a job on land, managing the Highland Links in Truro. He then worked for Land’s End Marine Supply in Provincetown.
He continued to play golf, however, despite losing his lower right leg in a 2006 car accident. “The amazing Manny,” wrote the Provincetown Banner, was back on the links to play in the Elmer Silva Charity Golf Tournament in August 2007.
Manny was a proud member of the Knights of Columbus, Lions Club, St. Vincent de Paul, and the American Legion and was a devoted brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
He is survived by his sister, Inez Johns of Brownsville, Ind.; sons Manuel G. Macara III of Los Angeles and Randall D. Macara of Revere; daughters Roxane M. Macara and Linda L. Macara and partner Timothy Rose of Truro; three granddaughters, Nicole Conrad, Rebecca Blomé, and Kellie Blomé; several great-grandchildren; and many, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He was predeceased by his wife, Patricia, and his brother, Kenneth R. Macara.
A funeral Mass took place at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown on April 3. A private burial will be held later in the spring.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Manuel’s memory may be made to VNA Hospice of Cape Cod at 25 Communication Way, Hyannis 02601.
