{"id":115231,"date":"2026-05-12T15:50:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T15:50:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:50:37","slug":"marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers gathered on the shore of South Ballina Beach today to honour fellow crew members <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/volunteers-killed-in-ballina-bar-rescue-identified\/\">Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen<\/a>, who lost their lives during a rescue mission earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>In a private ceremony, volunteers floated flowers left at the Marine Rescue Ballina tower into the ocean as a tribute to the two men, who died while responding to a vessel in distress on Monday, May 4.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115165\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115165\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-115165 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/DroneMarineRescueBal_59782-1024x576.jpg?_t=1778564794\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115165\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers gather at South Ballina Beach to pay tribute to their fallen crewmates. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Marine Rescue NSW Ballina unit commander Peter Hill said the ceremony was an important moment for volunteers, families and the wider community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tragedy has been felt across the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Australia, we\u2019ve been uplifted by the personal video message from the Governor-General, emergency services, members of parliament and Marine Rescue NSW units across the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe impact has been staggering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115166\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115166\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-115166 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/Floraltributesonthen_59749-1024x768.jpg?_t=1778564794\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115166\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flowers left at the Marine Rescue Ballina tower were floated into the ocean in honour of Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hill said the support from the Ballina and Northern Rivers community had helped volunteers through an incredibly difficult period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Ballina and the Northern Rivers region, we have been overwhelmed by the love, goodwill and offers of help from our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe beautiful flowers laid at the tower and on the wall, with their kind words, have touched our hearts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cheerful poster from the Biala schoolchildren made us smile.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115167\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115167\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-115167 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/FrankPetsch_59757-1024x771.jpg?_t=1778564794\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"482\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115167\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Petsch is remembered by fellow Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers during a private ceremony at South Ballina Beach. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hill said messages and images left at the tower would be shared with the families of the two volunteers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will ensure that the families themselves see the messages of condolence and imagery of the floral tributes, hoping that it may comfort them in the difficult times ahead,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115171\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115171\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-115171\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/William-Bill-Ewen-1.png?_t=1778564884\" alt=\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Bill Ewen during a flower floating ceremony at South Ballina Beach. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.\" width=\"640\" height=\"861\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Bill Ewen during a flower floating ceremony at South Ballina Beach. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One crew member remains in hospital, while two others who were injured in the incident were released over the weekend and are continuing to recover at home.<\/p>\n<p>The family of Frank Petsch also released a public statement thanking the community for its support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank was larger than life to many people, but at home he was exactly the same \u2026 he made us laugh constantly,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was solid, intelligent and supportive, and the person who was always there when he was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115172\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115172\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/community-rallies-with-more-than-30000-raised-after-marine-rescue-tragedy\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-115172 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/cherry-fund-1-1024x538.jpg?_t=1778564989\" alt=\"READ MORE: Community rallies with more than $30,000 raised after Marine Rescue tragedy\" width=\"640\" height=\"336\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/community-rallies-with-more-than-30000-raised-after-marine-rescue-tragedy\/\">Community rallies with more than $30,000 raised after Marine Rescue tragedy<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The family said they had been deeply moved by the messages, flowers and support received since the tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t yet finalised arrangements for a funeral or memorial, but we will share that information once we have,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe also appreciate the care you have taken to respect our privacy at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marine Rescue Ballina thanked Cherry Street Sports Club for its<a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/community-rallies-with-more-than-30000-raised-after-marine-rescue-tragedy\/\"> ongoing fundraising efforts<\/a> to support the unit following the tragedy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers gathered on the shore of South Ballina Beach today to honour fellow crew members Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen, who lost their lives during a rescue mission earlier this month. In a private ceremony, volunteers floated flowers left at the Marine Rescue Ballina tower into the ocean as a tribute to [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":115232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-115231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lismore Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Staff Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65a93d2010f8b8ca5cd82b3cb117506a\"},\"headline\":\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":573,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/\",\"name\":\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Volunteers and supporters walk along South Ballina Beach during a private ceremony honouring Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lismore Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lismore Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":770,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Lismore Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65a93d2010f8b8ca5cd82b3cb117506a\",\"name\":\"Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/author\\\/staffwriter\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times","description":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times","og_description":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/","og_site_name":"Lismore Times","article_published_time":"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/"},"author":{"name":"Staff Writer","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/person\/65a93d2010f8b8ca5cd82b3cb117506a"},"headline":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony","datePublished":"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/"},"wordCount":573,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/","name":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honour Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at beach ceremony - Lismore Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png","datePublished":"2026-05-12T05:50:37+00:00","description":"Marine Rescue Ballina volunteers honoured Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen at a private flower floating ceremony on South Ballina Beach following the tragic rescue mission deaths.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/marine-rescue-ballina-volunteers-honour-frank-petsch-and-bill-ewen-at-beach-ceremony\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-FeatureImage.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Volunteers and supporters walk along South Ballina Beach during a private ceremony honouring Frank Petsch and Bill Ewen. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/","name":"Lismore Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization","name":"Lismore Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2024\/08\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2024\/08\/logo.png","width":770,"height":96,"caption":"Lismore Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/person\/65a93d2010f8b8ca5cd82b3cb117506a","name":"Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8141369e4f36c1f36501cdd7a0b2ce97575be91418e5a4f5e160bd32c4a99d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/author\/staffwriter\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115231"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=115231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}