Fifty years later, Remembering Edmund Fitzgerald sailor Mark Thomas

MADISON (WKOW) -- Fifty years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew members.

Here in Wisconsin, many have personal connections to the ship or may even know someone who died, including someone in our WKOW extended family.

Karen Dalassio remembers her neighbor, Mark Thomas, as more than just a kid from the same street. He was part of her family.

"Mark was our next-door neighbor. We lived there about 11 years, and our street had a lot of kids. Most of the time, we were at the Thomases' house. Mark was happy-go-lucky, a little mischievous, and he loved having people around. Their house was the center of the neighborhood," Dalassio said.

She recalls summers playing kickball and sitting in the back of the Thomas family's station wagon, watching the neighborhoo