“Father Away, his Favorite Daughter is Boat Victim,” Anna Comerford
Anna Comerford, an 18-year-old telephone operator, was one of the many tragic victims of the 1915 Eastland disaster. As the “darling of the family,” Anna was a cherished daughter and a main provider for her large family. Her story, published in the Chicago Tribune shortly after the disaster, reflects the heartbreak of a family left waiting for their father—unaware of his daughter’s death—to return home and grieve with them. This article sheds light on the personal loss suffered by the Comerford family and the profound sorrow felt in the wake of the tragedy.
Anna Comerford, 11 July 1897 – 24 July 1915. Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1915
Father Away, his Favorite Daughter is Boat Victim,” Anna Comerford
In a little cottage at 825 South California Avenue is a family of nine mourning the loss of the “darling of the family,” who was drowned when the Eastland went down. She was Anna Comerford, 18-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pierce Comerford.
To add to the grief the father is not home to share the sorrow, and as far as is known he is not yet aware of the fate that has come to his favorite daughter.
The family has been trying to locate the father ever since Saturday, but their efforts so far have been in vain.
The scene at the home of the dead girl, who was an employee of the Chicago Telephone Company and one of the main supports of the large family, is pathetic in the extreme. Gathered around the bier are the mother and her eight children—Alice, Frank, Marie, Pierce, Charles, Mary, William, and little 5-year-old Ruth.
“We are hoping against hope that father will arrive in time to gaze upon the features of our Anna before she is lowered into her grave,” said Alice, the eldest girl, last evening. “Oh, how I wish he would come home! Anna is to be buried Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock, so you can just imagine the suspense.”
“I know it will almost break father’s heart if he fails to see our Anna,” exclaimed Mrs. Alice Comerford, who is nearly on the verge of prostration over the loss of her daughter.
And through it all, little Baby Ruth, playing with her dollies on the floor of the reception room where the body lies, waiting for her daddy to come home and for her sister to wake up from her long sleep. - Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1915
Anna's obituary from the Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1915
