Age 34. 347 West Second Street, South Boston (Boston), MA. Born 6/01/1908, in Lowell, MA. Died on 2/16/1943, at Boston City Hospital, of burns (death certificate). Grove new Broadway Lounge bartender. Also a taxi driver. Columnist Joseph F. Dinneen, The Boston Globe, 11/30/1942: "...Known familiarly as 'Bubbles' because he was outrageously fat and proud of it..." (WWII draft registration, October '40: 6' 0," 320 lbs.). When the fire broke he covered his face with a wet bar rag to avoid, "...strong and bitter smoke" (quote). Boston Daily Record, 12/02/1942: "Of late he had been working as a bartender in the new lounge; so, when they were carrying him out, the stretcher broke. 'Give me a cigarette,' said Bubbles, 'I can walk' - and he did" ("Man About Boston," by columnist George W. Clarke). Suffered 2nd and 3rd-degree burns to his back, shoulders, and extremities. Burned over 30 percent of his body. Red Cross report, June '43: "He weighed three hundred eighty-five pounds and was happiest when he was busy behind the bar, jovial and gesticulating as he mixed fancy drinks for guests..." (reported weight may be more accurate than the above 1940 WWII draft card). Photographed with two real customers tending bar in a New Lounge promotional glossy on November 17, its opening night (the only known surviving pre-blaze image of the still-unfinished new annex). One of ten club employees listed by Grove bookkeeper Miss Rose Gnecco, age 47 (not present), at the city inquests to have collected final pay as of December 7. Was raised in Lowell. Was single, left no immediate family. The South Boston address above was that of an aunt. Was the second of three fire victims to die during calendar 1943 (after fire-induced suicide victim Francis Gatturna, age 31) and second-to-last of 490 Grove casualties overall (also Miss Phyllis Atkins, age 22, who succumbed in May 1943). At over 300 lbs. was by far the heaviest male present and also the heaviest male fatality among those with WWII draft registrations (patron Arthur Broderick, age 43, was the next-heaviest male victim at a recorded 270 pounds). Parents Mr. and Mrs. William T. and Alice E. (Busby) Shea. Burial at St. Patrick Cemetery, Lowell. Middle name Thomas.

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