A former Detroit resident who survived the sinking of the liner Titanic in 1912 is dead at 79.

Frank John William Goldsmith died Wednesday in Orlando, Fla., where he had lived since 1979 after retiring from business. The funeral will be held Monday in Orlando.

A son, Frank Jr., said Mr. Goldsmith was 9 when he sailed with his parents from their native England to make a new home in Detroit. But the supposedly unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage and went down with 1,517 passengers, among them his father.

Mrs. Goldsmith and young Frank left the ship in the last lifeboat and drifted four hours during the night before they were rescued by the liner Carpathia . She then brought him to Detroit, where he grew up, worked as a milk cart driver for many years and then served as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II.

Mr. Goldsmith moved to Ohio after the war and ran a photographic supplies store until his retirement. He is survived by his wife, Victoria; three sons, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.