Age 19. 1277 Avenida Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil. Born 2/24/1923, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Died 12/26/1942, at Boston City Hospital, toxemia due to burns (death certificate). Sophomore in biological engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (local address: Sigma Nu Fraternity, 259 St. Paul Street, Brookline, MA). Reported by the 11/30/1942 Boston Daily Record at the club to dine with friend Rodric Prendergast, age 18, of Brookline, dead: "Billings escaped with slight burns and is reported at the hospital to be out of danger." "He had gone to the Red Cross...on Saturday morning and had donated a pint of blood to the Red Cross blood bank" (The Tech, M.I.T., 12/04/1942). "His death came just four weeks to the day after the fire" (AP wire article, 12/26/1942). Was single. Was a lifelong resident of Brazil, but had attended U.S. schools since youth. American father was a prominent hydroelectric engineer and pioneer in electrification of Brazil, developed Represa Billings (Billings Reservoir) in the city of São Paulo. Both his father and an older brother had previously attended M.I.T. Was a legal citizen of Brazil (WWII draft registration, June '42), one of three known non-U.S.-citizens to perish in the blaze (also David Hillman, age 17, citizen of South Africa, and Stéphane Oppenheim, age 26, citizen of Belgium, all college students). Was the lone fire casualty with a primary residence outside the U.S. Was the only victim showing "toxemia" (high blood pressure resulting in liver or kidney damage) on his death certificate as the primary cause of death. Was the 487th Grove fatality (of 490 overall) and the last to succumb during calendar 1942. Parents Mr. and Mrs. Asa W. K. Billings and Josephine J. (Jordana) Billings, same Brazil address. Burial at Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, NY. Middle name Jordana.

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