The Jurich Family at the 1953 Blessing of the Fleet.
Domenik Jurac of Bobovisce, Brac, Yugoslavia arrived to the United States aboard the RMS Pannonia on January 10, 1921, with the dream of becoming a US citizen and later bringing his expectant wife, Katherine Sekul Jurac, and three children with him. Speaking no English, Dominick, like many who immigrated from Croatia, began work in the seafood factories of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He declared his intent in 1922 and became a naturalized citizen in 1927; his family arrived later that same year and a fifth child was born. As frequently occurred during immigration, the spelling of the family surname was changed to Jurach, later becoming Jurich.
The Jurich family established themselves as significant contributors to the seafood industry of the Gulf Coast. Leading his family to be civic minded residents of Biloxi, Dominick attended St. Michaels Church and was a member of the Slavonian Lodge. Their hard work in the factories and on shrimp and oyster boats manifested well in 1937, when the Jurich’s were able to have a 48.6-foot, wood-hull oil screw boat built by the Jules Galle Shipyard in Biloxi. In honor of their Croatian heritage, the vessel was named the MISS YUGOSLAV. Through the marriages of their children, the Jurich name was allied with other Slavic families that joined the Biloxi community, whose names include Baricev, Barhonovich, and Pitalo. The descendants of Dominick Jurich produced by these unions are all notable names in the history annals of Biloxi for their contributions to our seafood heritage.