Dean Winston Hodges was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, on the 2nd November 1909, the son of William Sterling and Sara E. Hodges, (née Griesemer). In 1915, the family home was at 2926, Lehigh Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his father was employed by The Baldwin Locomotive Works. He had an older brother named William S. Hodges, but known as ‘Billy’, who was born in 1907.
His father’s business for Baldwin took him all over the world and in 1915, he was appointed to run the company’s business in France. Consequently, despite the war in Europe, he had booked saloon passage for them all to sail to England on the
Lusitania on the morning of 1st May on the first part of their journey. Subsequently, they arrived at the Cunard Berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on that day and with ticket number 14677, they boarded the liner and were escorted to their first class accommodation. Dean’s room was number A18, which he shared with his brother Billy, and his parents were next door in A16. Both these rooms were in the charge of First Class Bedroom Steward John Perry who came from Seaforth on the outskirts of Liverpool.
The liner’s departure was delayed until the early afternoon, as she had to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the recently requisitioned Anchor Liner Cameronia
and just six days later she was sunk, having been torpedoed by the German submarine
U-20. At the time, she was only twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port of Liverpool.
None of the Hodges family survived the sinking and as one report states that as the ship was sinking, Dean’s mother was heard to say: -
If we go down, we’ll all go down together!
Perhaps all four of them were together at the time.
It was first thought that Dean alone from the family had survived, but this later proved to be a misplaced hope. Although the bodies of his mother and his brother were recovered and identified, his and that of his father never were, and as a consequence, neither have a known grave. He was aged five years.
Bedroom Steward Perry, who had looked after Dean Hodges and his brother in room A18 also perished in the sinking and never saw his Seaforth home again.
Pennsylvania Births Certificates 1906 – 1911, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Cunard Records, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Tragedy of the Lusitania, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Stuart Williamson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.