Tour Boat Operator Drowned in Suicide

Lake George, NY- A man with family ties to a 2005 boating accident in upstate New York that claimed the lives of 20 people on a fall tour — including three from Downriver — has drowned.

Authorities report that the operator of the ill-fated tour boat drowned himself in the Adirondack lake that claimed the lives of 19 Michigan residents and one person from Ohio.

The Associated Press reported that divers recovered the body of 44-year-old Matthew Quirk of Queensbury on Saturday from Lake George, 50 miles north of Albany. The death was ruled a suicide.

Divers searched the lake Saturday after a boat owned by Shoreline Marina was found adrift. Quirk had taken the boat out himself.

Joyce Chapman, 75; Earl Hawley, 76; and Francis Wrock, 87, lost their lives after the 40-foot Ethan Allen capsized in Lake George on the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2005.

Fourteen senior citizens from the Trenton Travelers club were on a fall color tour of the region when the boat overturned on the narrow lake, killing 20 of its 47 elderly passengers.

Among the 27 survivors were 11 other members of the Trenton Travelers, composed of Trenton and Gibraltar residents. The group’s coordinator, Margaret Kidon of Trenton, survived.

Quirk’s family owned the Ethan Allen, which was believed to have been rocked by a wake from a boat or multiple boats. A grand jury heard conflicting testimony from survivors. Some said there was no wave; others said there were 6- to 8-inch waves.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in 2006 that the 40-foot boat was dangerously unstable because of structural changes done over the years and should have carried fewer passengers.

State and federal weight limits have since been modified.

The Quirk family’s company, Shoreline Cruises, recently settled lawsuits by family members of 17 victims for an undisclosed sum.

In March 2007, Shoreline and boat Capt. Richard Paris each pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge, admitting there were not enough crewmembers aboard the Ethan Allen.

State navigation law required at least two crewmembers, but Paris was alone. Paris and the company each were fined $250, and Paris agreed to serve more than 200 hours of community service instead of 15 days in jail.