Miss Hedwig Margaritha Frölicher

© Nicolas F. Frölicher, Switzerland

Miss Hedwig Margaritha Frölicher (nicknamed "Mädi"), 22, was born in Zürich, Switzerland on 13 August, 1889, the daughter of Maximilian Josef Frölicher-Stehli and Margaretha Emerentia Frölicher-Stehli. They lived at "Villa Riesmatt" 6 Mittelstrasse, Riesbach, Zürich.

She graduated in early 1912 and was to meet he future husband Robert Schwarzenbach of New York. He also was from Switzerland and managing director of the silkweaving factory of Schwarzenbach & Huber in New York.

Miss Frölicher boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg together with her parents. She had her own ticket; No. 13568, £49 10 s (sFr 1310.00). She occupied cabin B-39.

During the night from 11th to 12th April Margaritha was seasick. This lasted till the sunday night. She was woken by the collision. Together with her parents she dressed and went to Deck A to investigate what happened. They then went back to bed. After a while they were told to put on their life-preservers. Margaritha and her parents left the Titanic in lifeboat 5. After about three and a half hours at sea they were rescued by the Carpathia.

Her parents returned to Switzerland. But Margaritha remained in New York where she married Robert J. F. Schwarzenbach, 36, on 4 January 1913. The couple lived in Jericho, New York and had three children (one daughter, b. 1913 and two sons, b. 1917 and 1918) (1).

Her husband died suddenly on 3 August 1929 in Hicksville, Long Island. In 1931 Margaritha Schwarzenbach moved together with her children to South Norwalk, Connecticut. Margaritha Schwarzenbach, known to her American family as Margit, went back to Zürich to die near her daughter, her death occurring on 16 July 1972. She was buried at Sihlfeld Cemetery, Zürich her family-grave.

Notes
1. Her son Robert M. Schwarzenbach was born in Jericho, New York on 25 May 1917 and died in Norwalk, CT on August 27, 1988. He was a prominent businessman of Norwalk, Connecticut and was CEO of Schwarzenbach Huber, a New York based textile company. He was also a member of the United States Olympic Ski Team at one time and was a fighter pilot who patrolled the Swiss/German border during World War II. He helped to found the Maritime Center in Norwalk. The other son J. Christopher Schwarzenbach is now a resident of Oceanside, California. A grandson, Peter M. Schwarzenbach lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a granddaughter Sibyl Schwarzenbach lives in New York City, and another granddaughter, Jessica, lives in Taos, New Mexico.

References and Sources

The Norwalk Hour, 20 July 1972, Obituary
Unidentifed Newspaper (Zürich), July 1972, Death Notice
Günter Bäbler (1998) Reise auf der Titanic. Chronos, Zürich

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