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Spokane's Titanic Connection
By KELLY MILNER HALLS
On April 14, the world will remember the sinking of the unsinkable – the luxury ocean-liner known as the Titanic. When Spokane remembers that day, 111 years ago, a man named William Rice, his wife Margaret and their six children might come to mind.
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William and his bride moved to New York City from Ireland at the turn of the century. In 1902, Rice landed a good job at Grand Trunk Railway in Montreal. It was a lucky turn for a man about to be a father for the first time. Margaret soon gave birth to a healthy son named Frederick.
When little Frederick choked to death on his pacifier, Margaret grieved, but she didn’t let the loss paralyze her marriage. She and William had four more boys in Canada.
Spokane entered the Rice family’ picture in 1909 when William went to work for the Great Northern Railroad as a machinist in the Inland Northwest. Margaret gave birth to another son, Eugene. But trag- edy struck once more, a year later.
Margaret’s husband was making repairs beneath a tank car in the Hillard railroad yard when a second train car struck the disabled tanker. He was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital, but his injuries were too severe. He died a short time later.
Great Northern awarded Margaret a substantial financial settlement. She used some of it to buy William a new burial plot and a decent gravestone, where he remains to this day. She also bought property in Spokane. A short time later, she took her boys to Ireland to heal and visit their kin. When the family felt renewed, they headed back to Spokane.
Margaret Rice booked third-class passage for her family on the Titanic’s virgin voyage. It turned out to be the ship’s only voyage.
When the Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14, they were almost home--just 400 miles from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, north of New York City. At first passengers weren’t concerned. The Titanic was called unsinkable in the newspapers. White Star Line, the company that made the Titanic didn’t disagree. But the jagged ice had done too much damage for her to stay afloat. By 2:20 am on April 15, the ship settled on the bottom of the frosty North Atlantic.
Margaret Rice and her boys were among the 1,517 people lost to the icy waters. Her body was recovered along with her youngest son, who was 2 ½ at the time of his death. Her other boys were never found.
Investigations concluded that a lack of an ample number of lifeboats caused the massive loss of life on the Titanic. Weak rivets in the Titanic’s hull and a possible coal fire were also considered contributing factors. And the fact that the key to the binocular locker was left in England when the Titanic set sail didn’t help the watchmen detect danger on a moonless night.
Margaret and her son were layed to rest in Halifax, Nova Scotia along with 148 other Titanic casualties.
Margaret’s husband, William Rice is still buried at Fairmount Memorial Park in Spokane, his plot marked by a heartshaped headstone Margaret purchased. When his family’s gut-wrenching fate was pieced together, a monument to the Titanic was installed, just behind William’s grave.
Crafted of native basalt and finely polished granite, it tells the story of Spokane’s link to the greatest disaster ever to unfold at sea. Etched on the monument is a stone-work image of Margaret Rice and her lost children. They are gone but will never be forgotten.