Back to Ohio

HR219 • 2026

Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and the lives lost.

Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and the lives lost.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Josh Williams
Last action
Official status
As Adopted by the House
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and the lives lost.

Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S.

What This Bill Does

  • Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S.
  • Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and the lives lost.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. Ohio Legislature

    As Offered

  2. Ohio Legislature

    As Adopted by the House

Official Summary Text

Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and the lives lost.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
As Adopted by the House

136th General Assembly

Regular Session

H. R. No. 219

2025-2026

Representative
Williams

A R E S O L U T I O N

Honoring
the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy and
the lives lost.

WHEREAS,
The members of the House of Representatives of the 136th General
Assembly of Ohio commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S.

Edmund Fitzgerald
tragedy and the lives lost, including seven
from Northwest Ohio; and

WHEREAS,
In its day, the S.S.
Edmund Fitzgerald
was the largest ship on
the Great Lakes. Based out of Cleveland under a permanent charter of
the Oglebay Norton Company, the vessel served several port cities
along the Great Lakes, and during its lifespan, it set six
international hauling records and traveled the equivalent of
forty-four times around the world, earning such nicknames as the
“Pride of the American Side” and the “Toledo Express”; and

WHEREAS,
On November 10, 1975, the S.S.
Edmund Fitzgerald
sank in a
storm on Lake Superior with the loss of all twenty-nine crew members,
seven of whom were from Northwest Ohio, including Captain Ernest
McSorley of Ottawa Hills. The ship was the pride of America’s and
Ohio’s maritime shipping industry, and its loss claimed the lives
of several of our state’s most skilled nautical crewmen; and

WHEREAS,
The Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S.
Edmund Fitzgerald
tragedy
is a somber milestone. The tale of the tragedy was immortalized in
Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the
Edmund Fitzgerald
,”
and the valiant service and sacrifice of the ship and its crew have
earned them a hallowed place in Ohio’s maritime history, a legacy
that will long be remembered by the families of the victims and the
communities served by the
Fitzgerald
; therefore be it

RESOLVED,
That we, the members of the House of Representatives of the 136th
General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, recognize the
Fiftieth Anniversary of the S.S.
Edmund Fitzgerald
tragedy and
the lives lost; and be it further

RESOLVED,
That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit duly
authenticated copies of this Resolution to the news media of Ohio.