The number of persons killed by the Cocoanut Grove fire has been confirmed to be 490. The origin of the much repeated erroneous casualty counts can be traced to the earliest death lists compiled by news organizations in the confusion of the first days following the fire, which contained both omissions and duplicated listings.
Counted among the victims of the fire was Francis Gatturna, age 31, Roslindale, MA, the lone survivor in a party of six including his wife, Grace, age 28. Haunted by guilt, he jumped to his death from a closed fourth-floor Boston City Hospital window on January 9, 1943.
The oldest Grove fire fatality was service cashier Katherine Swett, Malden, MA (born on March 16, 1875), age 67 years, 8 months. Swett was also the oldest club employee fatality, and the lone employee continuously at the Grove since its 1927 opening. Katherine’s name was misspelled and her age incorrect in the Boston Globe story. (left)
The youngest Grove fire fatality overall was Eleanor Chiampa, Newton, MA (born on March 10, 1927), age 15 years. The youngest male patron present and the youngest male victim was Charles Sheehan, Milton, MA, age 15. Because the Grove was licensed as a restaurant and not as a nightclub or bar, there was no law against minors (then under age 21) attending.
The largest group of patrons present when the fire broke out was the Charles ‘Buck’ Jones film industry party on the main dining room terrace, hosted by Monogram Pictures district manager Herman Rifkin and his wife Pauline, ages 58 and 56, respectfully of Newton, MA. Sixteen of the 29 members of the Buck Jones maindining room party died in the blaze. Of the 12 couples attending the Buck Jones party only three emerged without loss of life.
Forty-two minor children (under the age of 21) were orphaned by the loss of 22 separate parental sets. One child was orphaned by the loss of her single widowed father, Edward 'Israel' Loman, age 44). An additional 101 minors lost one parent each.
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Of the 20 cases chosen by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as representative Grove manslaughter victims in the spring trials of 1943, only 19 were successfully tried and proven. The one manslaughter case that was dismissed was that of patron Madeline Wennerstrand, age 26, Roslindale, MA, because no evidence was produced about her death due to the suicide of survivor and intended witness Francis Gatturna.
Boston College equipment manager and assistant trainer Lawrence “Larry” Kenney, age 38, Dorchester, MA, who died with his wife, Marie, age 33, was the only fire death directly connected on-field to the afternoon Boston College/Holy Cross football game at Fenway Park. No undergraduates from either school were killed or injured at the Grove fire.
City of Boston Arts Commission
City of Boston Community Preservation
The Edward Browne Fund
The George Henderson Foundation
The Shawmut Street Trust
National Fire Protection Association
Massachusetts Charitable Fire Association
Cocoanut Grove Families
Families & Friends of the Cocoanut Grove Memorial
International Association of Fire Fighters
Henry Lee Fund
The Massachusetts House of Representatives
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