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April 1st, 1899 - April 1st, 1985

She is a Aries.

Ellen Mary Mockler was born in Killian, Co Galway, Ireland to a Roman Catholic family, versed in both the Irish and English languages, she was the youngest child of 6 born to Andrew Mockler (born 1850), a farmer, and Catherine Mitchell (born 1850), both Galway natives who had married in February 21st, 1878. Her known siblings were: Martin (August 10th, 1877), Michael (November 1st, 1881), Eleanor Margaret (October 26th, 1883), and Bridget (September 17th, 1886). Another unidentified child died in infancy. Ellen, known as Ellie, appears on the 1901 census living in Currafarry and on the 1911 census in Currafarry on which she had no stated profession.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
She boarded the RMS Titanic at Queenstown on April 11th, 1912 as a 3rd class passenger. She was traveling with fellow-Galway people: Thomas Smyth, Margaret Mannion, Thomas Kilgannon, and Martin Gallagher (in later interviews she would claim a third lady was part of her party, possibly Honor Healy). Her final destination would be Manhattan where 2 is her sisters, Margaret and Bridget, already lived and it was they who sent her the money for her passage. On the night of the sinking, Ellen claimed that many 3rd class passengers were staying below decks, and that she would have done the same if it had not been for 3 Irish men thag she was traveling with.

She also remembered that not one of the crew seemed particularly helpful, and no-one told them what to do and where to go and everybody just milled round aimlessly. In her later years she recalled chickens running around, having escaped from the kitchens! Elsewhere, she saw a lady calmly played the piano in one of the 3rd class public rooms. In her haste to leave her cabin, she had forgotten her handbag and a few belongings which she returned for but on the way a man persuaded her to forget such trifles as it may cost her life. She and her Galway friends spent time in prayer and knelt on the open decks and recited the Rosary. Both Ellen and Margaret Mannion were rescued in the same boat (possibly lifeboat 16) which Ellen described as only partially full. Looking back on deck Ellen saw her 3 male companions in prayer before her lifeboat was lowered. Whilst in the water she said the lifeboat began to leak and she, clad only in a dress with her lifebelt over it, felt the cold bitterly.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Arriving in New York Ellen recalled being examined in a hospital before being released to see her family. She was described as a servant aged 19 and was headed to her sister Mrs Lynch at West 17th Street, New York. Hard on the heels of Ellen's experiences in Titanic came the news of the death of her father back in Ireland; he passed away on June 1st, 1912. Her mother remained in Currafarry and died there on October 1st, 1929. Her last surviving sibling in Ireland, Michael, married and raised a family. He too remained in Currafarry and died there on October 24th, 1960.

She spent years living in New York where she was worked in the National Biscuit Company. In 1917 she moved to Worcester, Massachusetts and entered the order of the Sisters of Mercy that same year, was professed into the order in 1920 and took her final vows in 1925, becoming Sister Mary Patricia. She taught in schools and later worked as an administrator for the Catholic School Diocese and served as a sacristan for 36 years at St Paul's Cathedral and later at the chapel of the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse, Barry Road, Worcester before her retirement in 1976. She was one of only 2 known survivors to become a nun, the other being another Irish survivor from Co Mayo, Annie Kate Kelly. Remaining a sprite woman even into her advance years, Ellen gave interviews to the media frequently, flippantly telling them that she was on her way to America to make her fortune.

One of her final interviews was for an unidentified Worcester newspaper in 1982 where she recounted her experiences and when asked if she heard the band play the supposed final hymn Nearer My God, To Thee she replied "if they did, I never heard it." Sister Mary Patricia, formally Ellen Mary Mockler, died on April 1st, 1984, her 95th birthday. She was buried in St Joseph's Cemetery, Leicester, Massachusetts.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Ellen Mary Mockler.