DATE: April 10, 2025
EVENT: My Mum's Story: The Sinking of the Titanic

Don Mann, Retired Business Owner, and life-long student of Canadian history, has been an avid researcher of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The fact that his mother and grandmother were on board Titanic and survived its sinking, has driven Don's quest for as much information as possible as to the details of what really happened that fateful night of April 14, 1912. Don has visited several historic sites, including the Belfast Museum, the Halifax Cemetery, and the Royal Naval Museum-on-Thames, to name a few. Don continues to discover more information to add to his Presentation.

In "My Mum's Story", Don recounts in his mother’s  words how she came to be on Titanic. He tells of the "magic" of life on board, the moment when they were awakened in their bunks by the impact of the iceberg, and the drama of being in the lifeboat. It includes waiting for a rescue, the rescue of an Officer of the Titanic, then realizing that her mother had become stone deaf, and finally arriving in New York, hoping to be met by their benefactor, Mr. J.C. Colgate.

Don’s presentation is based on his mum’s story, along with slides, to graphically depict what went on that horrible night. His mother, Madeleine Violet Mellenger, and his grandmother, Elizabeth Anne Mellenger, were in Lifeboats 12 and 14 and were rescued by the Canadian Cunard Liner, S.S. Carpathia, after spending hours in a leaky lifeboat.

Don also weaves into his story, the ever-persisting "conspiracy theories" of what went wrong that night of "The World's Greatest Marine Disaster. Born in Toronto, Don and his family have lived in Kingston since 1967.