Lillian Gertrud Asplund (October 21, 1906 – May 6, 2006) was an American secretarial worker who was one of the last three living survivors of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Asplund was the last living survivor with memories of the disaster, as well as the last surviving American that was aboard the ill-fated ship.
Early life
Lillian Asplund was born on October 21, 1906, in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, to Carl and Selma (née Johansson) Asplund, both immigrants from Sweden. Her parents had lived briefly in Missouri prior to settling in Worcester. Lillian had a twin brother, Carl, two older brothers, Filip (born 1898), Clarence (born 1902) and younger brother Felix (born 1909), who was the only other survivor besides her mother and herself.
In 1907, Lillian's family received word that Lillian's paternal grandfather had died back in Sweden. As her father was the executor of his estate, the family made arrangements to return to Sweden to settle the estate of the family farm, located near the village of Alseda in Småland. Lillian, her parents and three brothers sailed from Boston aboard the Cunard Line's Ivernia and arrived in Liverpool on July 4, from where they proceeded to Gothenburg before arriving at Alseda. The family remained at Alseda for over four years while settling matters with the farm and caring for Lillian's grandmother, during which time Selma gave birth to another son, Felix, in March 1909. Lillian's mother would have rather stayed in Sweden, but her father said the children would get a better education back in America and booked passage for his family on the new White Star Line's Titanic.
Selma Asplund recalled that when Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm on the night of April 14, 1912, the family got to the first class promenade window where Lillian and Felix were loaded into descending lifeboat no. 10 by their father. Despite her mother's wishes to remain with her husband, Lillian was haunted by the memory of seeing her father and brothers standing at the rail and seeing her father lead her brothers away, presumably to find another lifeboat. A later report said that Mrs. Asplund and her "two babies" had been taken to a local hospital, and that Mr. Asplund and Clarence were apparently at another location. A final report confirmed that neither Lillian's father nor Clarence were among the survivors. Mr. Asplund's body was recovered by CS Mackay-Bennett. He was later buried in All Faiths Cemetery in Worcester. As the family's savings and possessions were lost in the disaster, a fundraiser and benefit was held by the city of Worcester which brought in $2,000 ().
Later life
Lillian's mother never recovered from the loss of her husband and three eldest sons and refused to discuss the disaster with anyone, saying that it was simply wrong to do so. Lillian agreed and, for the rest of her life, hardly ever spoke of the disaster. According to her lawyer, when asked about why she refused interviews even when offered money, Lillian stated: "Why do I want money from the Titanic? Look what I lost. A father and three brothers." Mrs. Asplund died on April 15, 1964, the 52nd anniversary of the sinking, at the age of 90. Nordgren Memorial Chapel in Worcester, where Asplund's wake and funeral services were held, received telephone calls and emails from as far away as Argentina and New Zealand. Due to the intense public attention surrounding Asplund's passing, her funeral was closed to the media.
After Asplund's death, the steamship ticket she had held for so many years was sold at auction in 2009.