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In 1967, a young woman married and became not just a wife, but a shrimper’s wife. Not many can fathom what that entails. Waking before dawn to see your fisherman off and then keeping the house quiet before it’s even dark out so he can get some sleep, to do it all again the next day. If he’s traveling the coast, she will miss him dearly for days or weeks. No one will ever understand the worry she will feel while he is at sea. She will maintain the Homefront and raise the children while he is doing what he loves. She will pray for his safety and anxiously wait to hear about a good drag. She never knows when the next paycheck is coming or if the boat will need repairs, or if mother nature will cooperate. She can’t control low shrimp prices, high fuel prices or a good or bad season. But she can be an anchor. She can be the person that holds her fisherman and her family firmly and securely in place. And that is what Linda Toomer is, she is our anchor. 
Linda moved to the Low Country in 1973 with her husband Frankie Toomer Jr.. Linda remembers spending many a weekends on the back deck of her husbands boats, picking up shrimp while maintaining a full time job to support the family through the hard times that accompany the shrimping industry. When times were really tough she recalls taking a leave of absence from work and going to the Gulf with her husband and working as a crew member of the F/V Rip Tide, a boat owned by the late Benny Hudson. Linda has had a first hand account of the demise of the fishing industry. She remembers a time when our area had fifty to sixty shrimp boats gracing its waters. Now there are only a handful, all of which belong to her family. Her brother-in-law Larry Toomer owns the F/V Daddy’s Girls which has become a Bluffton icon. Her oldest son Jeff owns the F/V Reilly Morgan and F/V Jeffrey Logan. His son Logan is following family tradition and is now the captain of the Reilly Morgan. Her middle son, Kemp, owns the F/V Just Right out of Tybee Island. Linda’s third son followed after his father and big brothers and is the owner and captain of the F/V Jesus Lives. His son, Camden, is also following in the family’s footsteps and learning the ways of being a shrimper. 
Linda has always put what matters most first, her family. She has remained steadfast while being a shrimper’s wife and raising her sons. Despite the numerous challenges the shrimping industries has, Linda has been unbendable. She has provided security and hope through uncertain times and has been a devoted wife and mother to her fishermen. We honor Linda Toomer during this year’s blessing of the fleet as an anchor in this dying industry.