Edward Figueiredo, longtime lobsterman, 70

Mr. Figueiredo grew up on Cohasset Harbor, his childhood home looking out on the many fishing boats - several belonging to his family - lining the docks.

His grandfather was a lobsterman; his father, too. When Mr. Figueiredo was 7, his parents drowned in a fishing accident off Cohasset Harbor, relatives said.

Mr. Figueiredo went to live with Millie and Lawrence Figueiredo, his aunt and uncle, on the other side of the harbor. His older brother, Joseph, inherited their father’s boat; Mr. Figueiredo took Joseph’s.

“He was a hell of a fisherman,’’ said his cousin Lawrence, who considered himself a brother after Mr. Figueiredo moved in with his family. “It was in his blood.’’

By 13, Mr. Figueiredo was catching lobsters in the harbor.

He graduated from Cohasset High School in 1958. In his senior year, he led the football team to an undefeated season, as a running back and cocaptain. He took Roberta (Lawson), whom he had dated since eighth grade, to the senior prom. Four years later, the two wed in Roberta’s home.

After high school, Mr. Figueiredo enlisted in the Coast Guard. For two years, he was stationed at Cape May, N.J. But on a vacation, Mr. Figueiredo cut off the tip of his left index finger in a motor on his lobster boat, limiting him to the Coast Guard Reserves.

Eventually, Mr. Figueiredo began lobstering full time. He and his boat, Prime Ribs, named for the wide rib cage in its hull, became well known around Cohasset Harbor.

Mr. Figueiredo’s daughter Annette Milton of Cohasset remembers it as “the most photographed boat in the harbor.’’

Prime Ribs became such an icon, a Cohasset postcard features the bright red boat. Mr. Figueiredo’s son Edward “Chip,’’ who also is a Cohasset lobsterman, inherited the family heirloom.

Mr. Figueiredo also developed a nickname around town: the Sesame Street Lobsterman. In 1975, the children’s show filmed a fishing piece with Mr. Figueiredo and his daughter Christine, who owns a boat-towing business in Morehead, N.C., and reran the segment for many years.

Mr. Figueiredo also was known for his 1932 Chevrolet. He and his cousin Lawrence took the black car to their 50th high school reunion last August.

After the reunion, Mr. Figueiredo awoke at 3 a.m. to drive to Boston for bait, as he had his entire career.

“It was his life,’’ his cousin Lawrence recalled. “I said, ‘Eddy, it’s 3 in the morning.’ He told me, ‘I’ll do it ‘til I die.’ ’’

A month later, he was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, a rare cancer of the digestive tract affecting 4,000 to 6,000 Americans a year, according to the University of Texas Cancer Center.

Mr. Figueiredo’s last day on the ocean was in mid-October.

His first wife, Roberta, died in 2004.

He married Frances (Goodman) in 2005 on a boat off the coast of New Hampshire. The two then moved to Hingham.

In addition to his brother, wife, and three children, Mr. Figueiredo leaves four stepchildren, Christopher and Joseph Fernald, both of Hingham, Daniel Fernald of Hull, and Brian Fernald of Cohasset; and 14 grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today in St. Anthony Church in Cohasset; burial is private.