The last known survivor of the 1915 capsizing of the Eastland in the Chicago River that killed 844 people has died.
Marion A. Eichholz, 102, formerly of Berwyn, Illinois, died Nov. 24, according to the Eastland Disaster Historical Society and her death notice.
Eichholz turned 3 a week before she boarded the SS Eastland on July 24, 1915, with her mother and father for Western Electric Co.’s annual employee outing to Michigan City, Indiana.
The vessel rolled to its port side around 7:30 a.m. on the rainy morning with an estimated 2,500 people aboard and its bowline still tied to the wharf between Clark and LaSalle streets.
In the end, 22 entire families were among the 844 who died.
Though just a toddler, Eichholz recalled some vivid memories of the day in an account published on the historical society’s website:
“My mom … and my dad … were seated on the upper deck, and I was standing by mom’s chair. Suddenly, the boat listed and I fell against the railing. Mom pulled me back to her side.
“People began to panic, and women were running and screaming. Dad picked me up in his arms, stood on the railing, and jumped into the river,” she said in the account.
Her mother was thrown a rope after going into the water while still seated in the boat, she said.
“I remember Dad swimming with me in one arm. I was crying, and my strap slippers were dangling from my ankles. We were picked up by a tugboat and brought to shore,” she said in the account.
Eichholz is survived by a sister and seven nieces and nephews, according to her death notice.