31) John B Thayer III
Not to be Confused With His Businessman Father, John B Thayer II
Born: 24 December 1894, Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States of America (Or Philadelphia, depending on the source)
Died: 20 September 1945, Pennsylvania, United States of America
John was an RMS Titanic Survivor.
Jack, as his family called him, was traveling in first class with his parents at the time of the disaster. His father was a wealthy businessman and would die in the sinking.
During the confusion of that night, Jack was separated from his parents and thought they had already escaped on a lifeboat. After speaking with some of the other men still aboard the ship, Jack made the decision to jump off the sinking ship, and he landed in the frigid Atlantic water. He eventually made his way to a crowd of other men, all of whom clung to the outside of the collapsible Lifeboat B. They were eventually rescued by boats 4 and 12.
His lifeboat arrived at the deck of Carpathia around 8:30 the next morning, where Jack was reunited with his mother and learned his father was missing.
While still aboard Carpathia, Jack described how the ship had sunk to another survivor, LD Skidmore, whose drawings based on Jack's descriptions are now iconic first-person accounts of that night.
Jack went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and entered the banking sector.
He married and had two sons.
During World War II, both of his sons enlisted in the service. One of them died. It is believed that this depression is part of what drove Jack to commit suicide. His obituary related that he was found in his car, his wrists and throat slit with his own knife.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Located In My Personal Library:
10 True Tales: Titanic Young Survivors by Allan Zullo
Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World by Hugh Brewster
How It Happened: Titanic, The Epic Story From the People Who Were There by Geoff Tibballs (Mentioned on the Passenger List)
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (Mentioned on the Passenger List)
The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down With the Titanic by Steve Turner
Sources:
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/john-borland-thayer-jr.html
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/ten-true-tales-titanic-by-allan-zullo/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7220366/john-borland-thayer