Age 16. 10 Davis Road, Port Washington (North Hempstead), L.I., NY. Born on 12/19/1925, in Geneva, NY. Died of burns (death certificate). Freshman at Radcliffe College (local address: 72 Buckingham Road, Cambridge, MA). "Dark-haired and vivacious, she was on the Dean's list and was active in sports..." (The Boston Globe, 11/30/1942). Had earlier on Saturday received a telegram from a friend on Long Island, Allan Kluber, age 18, of Richmond Hill, L.I., NY, dead, Harvard sophomore enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard, asking to join him in Boston at the Grove. The Boston Globe, 11/30/1942: "Norinne [sic], or Helen, as she was commonly known at Radcliffe, was with a group of Cambridge students." Geneva Daily Times, Geneva, NY, 11/30/1942: "Miss Welch...was found suffocated in the women's lounge of the club, according to information received here yesterday [Sunday] by her aunt..." Long Island Daily Press, Jamaica, L.I., NY, 11/30/1942: "Miss Welch's mother was prostrated and under a doctor's care. Her husband flew to Boston to claim his daughter's body." Identity was subject of some confusion on the official casualty list: "Further revision of the death list...by the Public Safety Committee has resulted in the discovery of another duplication...In the so-called 'final list' of the committee there were two Helen Welches and one Norine Helen Welch, all three with different addresses. It now appears that one of the Helens is identical with...Norine Helen Welch..." (The Boston Globe, 12/15/1942). Graduated the past June from the Marymount School of New York (girls' private Catholic day academy), Manhattan, NY. Was the younger of two Radcliffe casualties of the disaster (also junior Miss Sydney McKenna, age 19). Was one of six Grove victims under the age of 17, and sixth-youngest fire victim overall (of 490) at 16 years and 11+ months. Parents Mr. and Mrs. Vincent S. "Deak," Sr., and Norine (Manley) Welch, same Port Washington, NY, address. Father was vice-president of Equitable Life Assurance Society, of Port Washington, NY. Burial at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood, Westbury, L.I., NY.

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