Victor Alexander, 86, of Provincetown died on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 in the loving company of family and friends in his home of more than 40 years at 288 Bradford St.
On the night of his death, in a tribute to his connection to Provincetown's fishing heritage, a hearse carried Alexander, with fisherman Beau Gribbin at his side, down Commercial Street through the West End, past the clam flats and the moors, to the end of MacMillan Pier. It was his final tow through the town in which he lived for almost his entire life.
Born in 1929 to Warren and Almerinda Alexander, Victor was one in a family of five children. He grew up in Provincetown at a time when it was laced with piers and the harbor was the center of a thriving com¬mercial fishing industry, when hunting, fishing and farming were still very much a way of life. During World War II, when meat was scarce, Victor's father and his Uncle Phil raised hogs. Victor picked blueberries for the pies his mother baked to sell to those on the Navy ships and submarines that filled the harbor. When his father bought him a toboggan for Christmas, it wasn't for sledding but to haul firewood, all cut by hand in the surrounding forests, to heat their home.
At 16 he had his own trap line that ran from the marsh around Pilgrim Lake to Head of the Meadow. In the winter he would routinely walk from his Bradford Street home to check his traps. He also worked various odd jobs, setting pins at Al's Bowl¬ing Alley, located in the building that now houses Shop Therapy, and at Burche's Market, now Angel Foods. When he bussed tables at Wong's Chinese & Portuguese Restaurant — later Rilleau's Sandal Shop and now the Evaul Gallery — he tasted lobster Cantonese and spent the rest of his life trying to find its equal in other restaurants.
He was a highly regarded outdoorsman who spoke with assurance about the right way to dress a deer, the only way to live-bait a tuna hook, the perfect Portuguese beans to grow in your garden or the best secret spots for mushrooming. Fishermen and hunters who knew him often said that when Victor said it was the only way to do something, he was usually right. From foraging for mush¬rooms to bartending, he had a lifetime of experience working and learning from the old pros, and he was more than willing to share the level of precision and dedication that he applied to everything he did.
He joined the Army in his early 20s, and because he could splice wire cable he was stationed as a rigger in Labrador, fishing some of the best trout streams in existence while there. When he was discharged, he returned to Provincetown to a fleet of 76 draggers and five fish process¬ing plants, and he crewed with David Kelley and Bob Patrick on Kelley's dragger, the Virginia, captained by Herman Tasha. Later he worked on the trap boat Agnes & Stephania with his brother Warren, Oscar Snow and Cul Covea, owner of the vessel. When he wasn't working on a fishing boat he was on the backshore fishing for bass with Patrick in his Model T. He also fished for lobster with Al Silva; they were among the first to set traps along the backshore from Provincetown to Orleans.
At age 29 Victor sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound while deer hunting. According to the story recounted by friends, he managed to struggle back to his car and was driven to the ambulance in Truro. The volun¬teer driver wasn't used to driving fast, and Victor, strapped to the stretcher in the back, finally lost his patience and told the driver to step on it, whereupon the ambulance sideswiped Victor's cousin's car, coming in the oppo¬site direction on Route 6 on the curve near Blackfish Creek. The ambulance rolled into a gulley. By the time the second ambu¬lance got Victor to the hospital, a priest was there to pronounce last rites. Victor asked the nurse for a cigarette, and when she refused, citing hospital rules, the attending doctor said, "Give him one." Fortunately, it was not his last.
For many years Victor was rarely far from his black Labs, first Ace and then Deuce, who served him loyally and contrib¬uted eagerly to his successes in the field.
In the '60s, Reggie Cabral offered Victor a job bartending at the Little Bar at the Atlan-tic House at a time when jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Zoot Sims and Lam-bert, Hendricks and Ross all played there. Around that time Victor started wintering in Key West, bartending at Captain Tony's at night while working on Tony's charter boat during the day. Throughout the '70s, he bartended at Rosy's, now the Watermark Inn on Commercial Street in the East End, where he always greeted patrons with a big smile and where he became known for his Brandy Alexan¬der. One of his Key West friends, the singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffet, chose to honeymoon with his bride Jane at Rosy's because Victor was at the bar, said his friend Kim Rilleau, who waited on Buffett that night.
He was at home with all facets of the community, as welcome in the homes of artists as he was in the kitchens of local fishing families. He was close friends with Fritz and Jeanne Bultman, Myron Stout and other prominent artists in town.
He never stopped fishing, hunting or gardening. In the years after Rosy's, he had a 25-foot tuna boat, the Fish Hawk, built to his specifications. When he wasn't tuna fishing he was out fishing for fluke or striped bass.
He will also be remembered as a loving husband and dedi¬cated father. He was devoted to his wife of over 35 years, Trish, and to his daughter Heather.
He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
At the family's request, there will be no memorial service. Victor's ashes will be spread in a private ceremony at a date yet to be determined.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Provincetown Rescue Squad, PO Box 109, Provincetown, MA 02657.