TIS mourns the passing of Barbara McDermott

It is with profound sadness that TIS trustees have learned of the passing of Lusitania survivor, Barbara McDermott. Mrs. McDermott was a special guest of honor at TIS conventions in 2003 in Newport and 2004 in Groton, Connecticut, and enjoyed meeting many members and guests.  A public memorial service at the Old Stone Church, 251 Main Street, East Haven will be held Tuesday morning at 11:30 a.m.

The following is a short biography of this amazing lady who brought all who knew her such joy. Hers was a remarkable life.

She was born on June 15, 1912 in Derby Connecticut to Rowland and Emily (nee Pybus) Anderson. The family settled in Bridgeport as Mr. Anderson earned a living as a draughtsman at a factory in nearby New Haven. Mrs. Anderson found that she was pregnant with her second child and decided to visit her family in Darlington, England.

She booked passage on the Lusitania for her and Barbara for it’s May 1, 1915 voyage. Her husband was unable to join them due to work, but took them to the Cunard pier in New York City. Barbara, almost three years old, had scant memories of the fateful voyage.

“I remember standing beside my mother at the rail looking back at all the people on the pier. I tried to find my father in the crowd, but could not see him. I imagine he was there. The cabin we were in had the type of beds that were one on top of another. Our table was on the upper half of the charming dining saloon. It was a table for two and right by the railing. It also faced the corridor. Following lunch, on May 7, I got out of my chair and stood next to my mother and looked down through the railing at all those people having lunch at the long tables. Then the torpedo struck.”

Her mother’s account described a man who carried Barbara upstairs to the boat deck for her. This was Assistant Purser, William Harkness, who also helped lower the lifeboats and esaped with Mrs. Anderson and her daughter in boat 15. No sooner did the lifeboat begin to row away, the Lusitania began rolling over and sinking at the same time. The funnels shot out water and soot that covered the occupants of the lifeboat. Her only other memory was sitting facing her mother and being of the impression that they were lost as they were drifting about for a long time. They were eventually brought to Queenstown (now Cobh) Ireland and from there made their way to Darlington England. Her mother gave birth to a boy, Frank, in September 1915. The child lived till March 1916. Emily Anderson died March 22, 1917 of a TB related illness. It was blamed on her exposure in the open lifeboat.

Barbara continued to live in England till 1919, when her father sent for her. She arrived on the Lusitania’s sister ship, Mauretania on Christmas 1919. She settled back in Connecticut and was raised by her father and stepmother. Following her graduation, she married and worked for W.T. Grant department store. When it closed her final job was at the cemetery office in East Haven.

She did not speak about the sinking of the Lusitania until later in life. She often said, “No one believed me!”

She has granted numerous television and newspaper interviews in the past ten years and spoke at the Titanic International Society conventions in Newport, RI and Mystic, CT. Titanic International Society trustee Mike Poirier said about Barbara, “She will not be remembered just as a survivor of the Lusitania sinking, but as a dear friend.”