LACANDER, Hidjmar

LACANDER, Hidjmar (c. 1899-1939), Finnish lobster fisherman who drowned at Anacapa Island. He worked for the Larcos.

In the News~

November 7, 1928 [ODC]: “The heavy swell in Santa Barbara channel Saturday is believed to have claimed the life of Hidjmar Lacander, 39, lobsterman employed by the Larco Fish Company at Anacapa Island. Word of the accident was brought to Santa Barbara yesterday. The victim, an assistant to Arthur Gronthal at one of the Larco camps on the island, went out early Saturday to take in the daily catch. When he failed to return, a search was made, and fragments of the man’s skiff were found on the rocky shore. The body has been swept away. Officials of the company said the man was believed to have come here from San Pedro. He was a native of Finland.”

December 3, 1928 [San Pedro News Pilot]: “Silent evidence of a fisherman's tragedy off the lonely shores of Anacapa Island was brought into the harbor late last night. The body of a man believed to be that of Hjalmer Lucander, 40, of San Pedro, came in on the fishing launch Venice. James R Weeks and A. Gronthal, operators of the Venice, first found an empty,overturned rowing skiff off the island on November 3. They reported the find to Santa Barbara police. Last Wednesday while again fishing near Anacapa, they found the body washed ashore on an isolated little beach. Returning from their trip to port, they brought the corpse to San Pedro. Identification is not yet certain, because of the badly decomposed condition of the body. A San Pedro dentist will be called in to look over the dental work. Detective Lieutenants Joe Williamson and H. L. Evans of the harbor police division are investigating. The body is at the Cleveland mortuary in San Pedro. Leucander was a lobster fisherman and was known to operate his traps off Anacapa Island, approximately 80 miles north of the local port. He is also known to have disappeared early in November.”