Lillian Asplund of Worchester, Massachusetts was the last Titanic survivor to remember the "night to remember". She died Saturday at the age of 99. She was five on the fateful night in the middle of the Atlantic in April 1912 (photo on right is Lillian in 1912).
There are still two Titanic survivors still alive, but both of them were too young that night to have any memories. Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, was 10 months old at the time, and Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, was 2 months old.
Asplund lost her father and three brothers — Filip (age 13), Clarence (9) and her twin Carl (5) — on that night. Her younger brother Edvin (age 3) and her mother survived.
For Titanic geeks, Mrs. Asplund was a third class passenger (Ticket No. 347077) who boarded with her family in Southampton. She was rescued from lifeboat no. 15.
She rarely talked about that night (in fact, she reportedly told relatives that she didn’t even want it mentioned in her obituary). But Ap reports this:
Privately, however, Asplund opened up. [Lawyer Philip] Maloof said she broached the subject voluntarily as they became friends.
"She told me that she saw her father standing on the Titanic," Maloof said. "She didn’t say specifically that she was in a lifeboat, but she must have been."
"She even said she saw the ship slip into the water," Maloof said.
Asplund’s mother described the sinking in an interview with a Worcester newspaper shortly after the accident, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
The family went to the Titanic’s upper deck after the ship struck the iceberg, Selma Asplund said.
"I could see the icebergs for a great distance around … It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people … My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said ‘Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.’ He smiled as he said it."
Lillie never married, and retired early to take care of her mother, who never overcame the tragedy.
The following is from the local paper, the Worchester Telegram, dated April 18, 1912, complete with factual errors (only two children were saved) and original typos:
Mrs. Charles Asplund and Three Children are Saved
Her Husband and Two of Their Sons Are Believed to Be Among Those Lost on the Titanic, Though Names Sent Show Slight Varience
Charles Asplund, formerly of Worcester, his son Carl, 6 years old, and a baby boy 2 years old, are probaly among those drowned on the steamship Titanic. In reported list of survivors which is now complete the names "Selma Asplund", believed to be the mother, "Felix Asplund," believed to be the oldest boy of the family, 13 years old: "Lillian Asplund," probaly Lillie Asplund, 6 years old and "Canderson Osplund," probaly Clarence Asplund, 11 years old, appear indicating that the mother and three children are saved out of a family of seven that sailed on the Titanic, April 10, to return to Worcester.
In the list of survivors the names of Charles Asplund, Carl and the baby do not appear. The names received by wireless are not spelled correctly being spelled "Astlund." The first names are the same as Mr & Mrs. Asplund and children, and the name "Canderson Osplund" which is probaly Clarence Asplund changed in transmission.
Mr. Asplund lived in Worcester up to five years ago with his family. The last place they lived was 6 Rodney street. Mr. Asplund was employed at the Spencer Wire Co. works.
His sister-in-law, Mrs. Charles E. Carlson, 193 Vernon street, believes that Mr. Asplund and his family of seven in all, sailed as third-class passengers on the Titanic.
Mr. & Mrs. Carlson recieved a letter from Mr. Asplund a short time ago telling them that he and his family were on their way back to Worcester from Sweden and that they intended to sail from England April 10.
Mr. and Mrs. Carlson thought little more of the Asplund family until last night, when Mr. Carlson found a name similar to that of Asplund in the list of third-class passengers on the Titanic.
A later list of reported survivors with the first names of members of the Asplund family convinced Mr. & Mrs. Carlson that Mrs. Carlson’s brother-in-law, wife and family sailed on the boat. Up to then they were uncertain whether they sailed from Southhampton on the Titanic.
Mr. Carlson said at 1 o’clock this morning when informed that the names of Mrs. Asplund and three children appears in the list of saved, that he will go to New York at 10 o’clock this morning to meet the family when the boat comes in.
"Mr. Asplund and his family lived in Worcester for about 16 years. They left for Sweden about four or five years ago. Asplund was widely known among the Swedish-speaking people and for many years worked at the Spencer Wire Co. He has five children and it is very likely that they were all with him when he left England," said Mr. Carlson, last night.
"In the letter that he addressed to me just about the time he was preparing to leave England he said that he was happy to think that it would be but just a short time before he was in this country. But when I saw the list of third-class passengers names in one of the newspapers and saw one corresponded somewhat with his I felt that perhaps he went with his family, had sailed on the Titanic because it would be unlikely that there would be few others on the boat that would have names very near that of Mr. Asplund, for it is quite an odd name."
"He has made six trips across the Atlantic and he always picked the best boats."