July 11th, 1890 - December 6th, 1939

He is a Cancer.

Patrick O'Keeffe was born at Little Michael Street in Waterford City, Co Waterford, Ireland to John O'Keeffe (October 24th, 1872), a quarry labourer, and Catherine Fitzgerald (October 15th, 1871), Waterford natives who had married in St Patrick's Church on October 27th, 1887 and who were both underage at the time of their union; he had just turned 15 and his bride, who was with child, just 16 but both stated they were of full age to be wed. Patrick had 8 known siblings: John (February 22nd, 1888), James (January 1st, 1893), Ellen (November 13th, 1897), Susan (August 2nd, 1902), Mary (August 1st, 1900), Mary (October 28th, 1903), Arthur (August 21st, 1905), and Edward (August 12th, 1907). Patrick and his family appear on the 1901 census living at Little Michael Street in Waterford and a young Patrick received his primary education at the Sisters of Charity School for Boys and Girls and his secondary education at De La Salle.

In 1910 young Patrick decided to strike out for the USA and would travel with 2 uncles, Patsy and Arthur. Before they left Pat's father commissioned a family portrait. Patrick departed from Queenstown on August 28th, 1910 aboard the Celtic, arriving in New York on September 4th. There he stayed with relatives md garnered work as a labourer and porter. Not long after his departure his mother passed away from a liver complaint. In his absence the O'Keeffe family on the 1911 census as residents Kizby's Lane, Waterford. His father later remarried Johanna Brown and they made their home at Spring Garden Alley on Waterford.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
Patrick returned to Ireland for a month's holiday in 1912 and was originally supposed to have returned home aboard the Baltic; his brother persuaded him to stay an extra week so they could spend Easter together as a family and his bookings were transferred to Titanic. For his return to the USA Patrick boarded the RMS Titanic at Queenstown as a 3rd class passenger. Before boarding, he sent a postcard to his father where he expresses his sorrow that he was leaving Ireland again; his distress at leaving was so great that he had a premonition that the ship would sink and tried in vain to sell his ticket in Queenstown before he eventually embarked, only doing so because he feared if he returned to Waterford that he would be a laughing stock for having such qualms.

On the night of the sinking Patrick ascended to the upper deck and presumably remained aboard the ship during her final throes and jumped overboard with 2 English men, Victor Sunderland and Edward Dorkings. A strong swimmer, he found himself in the water and managed to pull himself aboard the capsized Collaspable B and later assisted 2 other men aboard, describing them both as Southampton-man and a Guernsey islander.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Upon reaching New York aboard the RMS Carpathia Patrick was described as a 21-year-old porter and was destined to the home of his cousin John Phelan at West 38th Street, New York. He spent time in St Vincent's Hospital for convalescence having sustained heavy bruising, rendering him unable to work at several weeks. He later received a grant from the American Red Cross for $102 and soon after wrote to his father of his experiences. In New York, Patrick later worked as a window dresser in a department store and later as an elevator operator in a office building, rising to á supervisory position which he maintained or the rest of his life. With the outbreak of World War 1 Patrick, still a British subject, opted to cross the border into Canada to see out his military duty there rather than he conscripted into the US Army and be forced to cross the ocean again, something he never wanted to do following his experiences aboard Titanic, an incident he never even cared to discuss.

Such were his reservations of ever crossing the ocean that Patrick never set foot on Irish soil gain, despite his longings for his homeland. Back in Ireland the political maps were shifting; a war of independence led to the partition of the country but a civil war erupted in the newly-formed Irish Free State (modern-day Republic of Ireland) between those forces opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty and those who support it. Patrick's family sided with the latter and his brother James, formally a dock labourer, joined the National Army in a non-combatant role. However, he was caught in an ambush in Rochestown, Co Killkenny and died from bullet wounds on August 15th, 1922. During peacetime Patrick returned to New York and began a relationship with Anna Nolan (May 25th, 1905), a native New Yorker born to Irish parents. They wed in Jersey City, New Jersey on September 19th, 1923 and had two children: Margaret Veronica (June 26th, 1924) and Edward (December 4th, 1925) but they later divorced. The separation was short-lived and they were re-wed on February 8th, 1936.

Patrick became a US citizen in March of 1936 and his address was then listed as Columbus Avenue, New York City. The family had also lived at West 109th Street, Manhattan.Patrick died on December 16th, 1939 at the age of 49 and he was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. Anna later remarried to Andrew Vincent Bartlett (1896 - 1978) before her death in October of 1968. His daughter Margaret never married and was later an executive with the Revlon Corporation; she died in 1988 following complications from surgery. His son later served in the Navy during World War 2 and then worked as an insurance man. He married Patricia Huson and raised a family.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Patrick O'Keeffe.