EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)—Winnifred Quick Van Tongerloo, one the few remaining survivors of the Titanic sinking, has died at age 98. Van Tongerloo was 8 when the Titanic went down after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912. Van Tongerloo, her sister and her mother were sailing to join their father in Detroit when the Titanic sank, said Van Tongerloo’s daughter, Janette Happel. A fellow passenger told the mother there had been an accident, and that the family should wake up, get dressed and go up on deck, Happel said. “Then the steward appeared at the door. ‘For God’s sake, get up,’ he yelled. ‘Don’t stop to dress. Just put on your life jackets. They’ve hit an iceberg, and the ship is sinking,’” she recalled her grandmother telling her. After artifacts from the ship were brought up in 1987 and a television program was made about it, Van Tongerloo was among the survivors interviewed. She said the program was interesting, “but a little on the phony side.”
Story says she was one of the last - I wonder exactly how many are left? I mean, it was quite a while ago…
According to the FAQ of Encyclopedia Titanica there are only four survivors left. Since Winnifred Vera Quick is listed as one of them, that means we are down to three (plus two others who were abord in utero.
Zev Steinhardt
Cool website, Zev! Duly bookmarked for slow days at work.
This is just the saddest thing ever . . .
That reminds me of the very sad tombstones in war graveyards that state simply “A Soldier Known Only to God”
Wow. The curse of the Titanic. Everyone but three are dead. It’s llike the ship is trying to claim them all!
Yeah . . . If only they had steered clear of that iceberg, or had enough lifeboats, they’d all be alive today.
Of course, this is the follow-up to the famous “Declaration of Independence” curse. All the people who signed that document are dead too…
Zev Steinhardt
One of my college professors liked to point out that sleep is the leading cause of death, since everyone who’s ever slept has died.
That’s not true. I’ve slept, but haven’t died. And while the odds are extremely likely that I will die at some point, there is always the one-in-a-zillion chance that I (or someone else currently alive) will dodge the bullet every time.
Zev Steinhardt
Well, not to nitpick with such a tragic event - but it was 90 years ago. I’m not so sure they’d all be alive today anyway. 
whooooosh!
dantheman,
I think Eve’s statement (like mine that followed) was meant as a sarcastic response to Max Carnage’s about the “curse.” She didn’t mean that they would all be alive today.
Zev Steinhardt
Heh. Well that could be. I think I might have read every other post. Whoosh, indeed!
An interesting Titanic-related hijack (if I may be allowed) -
My aunt is 96 years old. In her house she has a picture of my grandfather, his first wife (her mother), her brother, her sister, and herself. The picture is in a huge oval frame and shows the family standing outside of their house in their finest clothes (my aunt is wearing a fur coat - where my grandfather got the money for it I’ll never know). When I first saw the picture I asked about it and she said it was taken Apirl 15, 1912. I was a little incredulous a first and asked her how she could be so sure of the date. She replied, “It was taken the day that big ship - what was it called? - the Titanic, sank.” I pressed her for details and she said that a travelling photographer had come through their town and was taking pictures. My grandfather had saved enough money to get a portrait done and so they all hurried inside and got dressed. While they photographer was working (she described this big tripod camera with the black sheet thrown over the camera and the photographer) a neighbor (“old Ms. Jenkins - boy, was she fat”) came running across the street saying “Maggie, Maggie (my aunt’s mother), there’s been this terrible accident and a great big ship has sunk and thousands of people are dead!” The photographer told her (Ms. Jenkins) to be quiet as he was trying to work.
And so now whenever I look at the picture (I had a copy made - it is the only photograph of my grandfather I’ve ever seen) I think not only about my ancestors, but about the Titanic sinking as well.
Another hijack?
My maternal grandfather was supposed to emigrate on the * Titanic. * He stopped off with some friends, got drunk, and missed the boat . If he hadn’t stopped to get sloshed, he’d have been sloshing around at sea, and I probably wouldn’t be.
(he hadn’t yet met my grandmother)