More ..EDWARD DONOVAN...

more from.....Kathleen Hayner....



"  And..... I wasn't aware of the memorial marker in Pawtucket, along the shoreline.

My mother was an only child who raised seven children.

My widowed grandmother lived in Pawtucket 'til 1979 ...but was an important, and steady presence in our lives...... coming for long visits to be with us in Connecticut.

We had heard about "Eddie", from grandma, and how she never loved another.

She stayed single all those years.

She used to tell us that he loved music..........so the news that there was a piano [onboard].... and singing on the lower decks of the ship, was especially poignant to me.

We never really understood why he was on the boat that day...and my grandmother said that she was surprised to hear he was involved....[he was an insurance salesman]...... and she thought he must have decided to go because of the nice weather.

I always think of how my mother's, and my grandmother's lives were so altered by his decision that day.

 Both of them were life long Catholics and had a lot of faith.