Age 25. 100 Seaver Street, Roxbury (Boston), MA. Born (as Jennie (Jean) Taitel) on 7/06/1917, in Lynn, MA. Died 11/29/1942 (Sunday), at Cambridge City Hospital, Cambridge, MA, of 2nd and 3rd-degree burns (death certificate). Housewife (death certificate). Known as "Jean." Part of a 4-person group with her husband Maurice, age 26 (Born 3/17/1916. Died 7/16/1992, age 76. Last residence Revere, MA), escaped, his friend Corp. Harold Goldenberg, U.S. Army, age 34, and the latter's girlfriend, Miss Florence Zimmerman, age 22, both of Dorchester (Boston), MA, both dead. Group arrived around 9:15 p.m. Were seated at a small table in the cellar Melody Lounge near the northwest corner where the blaze started. Husband at the city inquests (quote): "The fire was ten feet behind us when my wife and I started for the nearby stairs. When we reached the stairs it was ten feet in front of us" (AP wire article, 12/01/1942). Climbed steps up to the foyer with her husband but was swept by the crowd away from the revolving door exit. The Boston Globe, 12/18/1942: "Somebody brought out the body...but she died at 4 next morning at Cambridge City Hospital." Her family searched seven different Boston hospitals, but she was ultimately found across the river at Cambridge City Hospital. Missing wife was described by her husband to a reporter at the scene as wearing a Benrus watch with a gold link bracelet, an engagement ring with a Tiffany setting, and a gold and platinum wedding band with an engraved rose. Was raised in Boston. Graduate of the Teachers College of City of Boston in 1938 and became a school teacher ('38 Lampas yearbook: "Of a sweet and pleasant disposition, and a quiet nature..."). Married on 3/28/1942, in Boston. Name was shown as simply "Jean Levy" on her death certificate and on the final official Boston Committee on Public Safety master list of casualties. Parents Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Pauline "Polly" (Dekelbaum) Taitel, and siblings Max Taitel and Mary Francis Taitel Greenberg. Jennie's Brother Max wrote the following: "Jennie married Maurice Levy in March of 1942, and they lived in an apartment on Seaver St. in Roxbury, Mass. -- but her life ended tragically when she died eight months later in the terrible Coconut Grove Fire in Boston in November of 1942. They had planned a night at this popular night club to celebrate Max’s graduation from Officer's Candidate School. Max's leave was cancelled at the last minute and they decided to celebrate anyway, which turned out to be a fatal decision. Mary of course was closer to her sister than was brother Max. She remembers Jennie as having loved school and music, and made many friends. She was very organized and meticulous almost to a fault. She was very thoughtful and always ready to help her parents. Jennie was naturally a 'big' sister to Mary in many ways with advice, shopping and making decisions." Burial at Mount Lebanon (Staro-Konstantinov Progressive) Cemetery, West Roxbury (Boston), MA. Tall white-stone marker (name displayed as "Jennie Levy") includes an inlaid ceramic oval with her college yearbook portrait (the same image as shown here), a unique feature among known Grove-victim gravestones. Maiden name Taitel.

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