For the survivor on Collapsible B with the same last name, see Patrick O’Keeffe
Arthur O’Keefe, was a Third Class passenger aboard the RMS Titanic, he perished in the sinking, most likely aboard the water-logged Collapsible A.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Arthur O’Keefe was born on September 30th 1867 to his parents, Patrick and Julia Murphy O’Keefe, both Irish Immigrants who emigrated to the US in 1861.
Arthur was one of four children, the only-daughter of the family being Margaret O’Brien (born O’Keefe) And the others being William and John O’Keefe, both dying in their childhood.
O’Keefe appeared on the 1870 US Census, showing the then 2 year old and his family living at an unspecified residence in Rahway, New Jersey. Around 1882, Arthur’s father had passed away, possibly somewhere in California, by then. His family had moved to Monroe Street.
In February 1912. O’Keefe had left the US for vacation, most likely to visit Ireland, as well as England and Scotland. He would send postcards and gifts to his home in Rahway, including an Irish Shamrock, which he sent with the intention of it arriving on St. Patrick’s Day. And when it was almost time to return to Rahway, the National Fife and others prepared to greet O’Keefe back into Rahway once he arrives from a train in New York.
Titanic and Death[]
O’Keefe had purchased a ticket (ticket number 323592, costing £7, s5) to board the RMS Titanic at Southampton as a third class passenger. While the final plunge aboard the ship was happening. Arthur managed to board Collapsible A, and is believed to be the person Olaus Abelseth tried to revive, by telling him that a ship was on its way.
O’Keefe eventually died from exposure in the raft during the night. And it’s believed that he either fell overboard, or was one of the bodies that would be picked up by the Oceanic and buried at sea. In the days after the sinking, his sister spent several days in Halifax trying to locate his body among those recovered by the Mackay-Bennett, but wouldn’t find it.
O’Keefe was not married, and O'Brien applied for administration of his properties. Her application to the Surrogate of Union County, New Jersey, stated that his assets was less than $350, although a contemporary local newspaper account described him as "quite an extensive property owner."
A memorial stone to O’Keefe was later founded in St. Mary's Cemetery in Rahway.
Portrayals[]
A Night to Remember (1958)[]
The conversation between Abelseth and O’Keefe had inspired a scene in A Night To Remember, where Patrick Murphy had been trying to revive a dying passenger after Collapsible B had been rescued, the passenger eventually dying in Murphy’s arms.
Titanic (1997)[]
A possible appearance of Arthur O’Keefe in Titanic (1997)
It could be possible that Arthur is portrayed by an extra in the James Cameron Film Titanic, as he first appears at Collapsible A during the sequence of the first funnel falling.