Death of Chef Anthony Hartford aboard Seacor Power mourns family: ‘No feeling at the moment’ | News

Six faded red roses stood in a vase on Kitchen Island in a home in New Orleans East, where family members gathered Saturday morning, hours after a 3 a.m. knock on the door means Anthony Hartford was among the dead in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hartet, 53, a longtime chef on the Seacor Power lift when it capsized, delivered the roses and a cake to her wife at University Medical Center for her birthday, Janet Hartford said. It was March 30, the last time she saw her husband of 24 years, a father of four.

“It’s no feeling at the moment,” she says in the foyer of a house that is quickly full.

Relatives hope some still live in the capsized vessel in the Gulf of Mexico

According to family members, Hartford tended to have pink stripes, old cars, top cigars and turn up for loved ones.

“I had the best dad in the whole world. The whole world, ”said a trembling Antranae Hartford, 24, the youngest of his four children.

The Lafourche Parish coroner identified Hartford and another Seacor Power crew member, James Wallingford, 55, in the northeastern Louisiana town of Gilbert as the youngest to be found in the Gulf. The Coast Guard said Hartford and Wallingsford were in the engine room on the harbor side of the mostly sunk vessel, which capsized on starboard Tuesday afternoon in the open sea driven by hurricane strength.

The latest toll: four dead, six rescued, nine missing

Janet Hartford said her husband was back home Tuesday but called to ask for an extra trip for the overtime pay. The last text from him, which sends hugs and kisses, came Sunday, she said.

The deaths of Hartford and Wallingford brought confirmed deaths to four, as the barge capsized about eight miles south of Port Fourchon. Six of the 19 people on board were rescued Tuesday. The first body was found on Wednesday, that of 63-year-old captain David Ledet of Thibodaux. The second was found Thursday: 69-year-old Ernest Williams of Arnaudville in the waters near Cocodrie, miles away from the capsized boat.

Saturday was the fifth day of a search that covered 4,000 square miles. Nine crew members went missing.

One crew member was killed and 12 were missing when U.S. Coast Guard rescuers searched the Gulf of Mexico waters for survivors.

Janet Hartford said her husband loves his job and was a cook at Seacor Power as it was owned by another company and was called the Dixie Endeavor with a different name.

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A friend from Hartford who did not want to be identified for this story said the two worked together about a decade ago. Hartford was the cook of Dave Ledet, captain of Seacor Power.

“He and Captain Dave were very close,” the friend said.

As a cook, Hartford was out at sea for six to eight weeks. The man the crew called Big Ant was at least 6 feet, 2 inches long and maybe 300 pounds, a large presence on the vessel.

“He was a real jolly guy, always happy. He had the same greeting for everyone. He would say, ‘What’s going on, Big Dawg?’,” The friend said.






Anthony Hartford

Anthony Hartford of New Orleans, the chef aboard the Seacor Power elevator, is shown in an undated photo provided by a friend on Saturday.


“He was one of the best chefs in the navy. He fried the best steaks I’ve ever tasted.”

Usually Saturday and Tuesday were steak days. Sundays were for chicken. On Monday it was red beans or any kind of beans. Seafood days were Friday.

Earlier this week, family members drove south to Port Fourchon to join other pensive families of the missing. But they returned home.

“It was overwhelming to see families grieving, not knowing what was going on.” His wife said. “It was too much.”

Hartford taught his children not to settle, saying they “should go to whatever you want,” said Lucretia McKendall, his eldest daughter.

He was doing it himself and building a mangrove in a room next to the New Orleans East house.

“He was a sweet giant. “Did not know a stranger,” said another family member, Felicia Wilson. “Always upbeat, looking for the positive.”

But Saturday’s news left little to be desired about the place where he called home.

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