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Anna May Silvey Gerlach 1904 - 1945

Anna May (Silvey) Gerlach of Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York United States was born on June 26, 1904 in Sag Harbor to Charles Gerlach and Rose Keenahan Silvey. She had siblings Henry Gerlach, Catherine Gerlach, and Joseph Gerlach. She married William Gerlach, and had a child Joan M (Gerlach). Anna Gerlach died at age 41 years old on July 28, 1945 in Manhattan County.

Anna May (Silvey) Gerlach

Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York 11963, United States

June 26, 1904

Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York, 11963, United States

July 28, 1945

Manhattan County, New York, United States

Female

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Anna May (Silvey) Gerlach Anna Gerlach (1904 - 1945)

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Anna May (Silvey) Gerlach's History: 1904 - 1945

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Introduction

Anna May Silvey Gerlach was born to Charles and Rose Silvey who immigrated from Ireland into the United States. Anna had three siblings Henry, Joseph and Cathrine. She married William Gerlach and had two daughters. She worked at the National Catholic Welfare Conference whose office was at the Empire State building. Anna lost her life when a B-25 bomber crashed and exploded into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building in 1945. See Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building for details of the incident. See also Twelve Victims of Crash Identified for an article written July 31st 1945 where her name is identified as one of the thirteen victims identified. There is also a record of an Anna Gerlach who arrived on October 16th 1923 in to New York on the ship Thuringia from Germany. Although, I'm not sure if this is the same Anna.
06/26

1904

Birthday

June 26, 1904

Birthdate

Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York 11963, United States

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

Anna was Irish-American. Her father Charles Silvey was born in Sag Habor New York (or Ireland - there are conflicting reports), and his father Jose Manuel Silvia/Silvey (1833-1914) was born near Lisbon Portugal, and his mother Catherine 'Kitty' McLane (1834-1915) was born in County Derry Ireland. Anna's mother Rose Keenahan (1872-1950) was born in Ardagh, Mostrim, County Longford Ireland, and her father John Keenahan (1827-1895) was born in Edgeworthstown, Longford Ireland, and her mother Ann Caffery (1832-1912) was also born in Edgeworthstown.
Nationality & Locations

Anna was born in Sag Habor Suffolk County New York. She lived in Southampton by 1910, married in Sag Harbor in 1922, and lived there most of her life. She worked in New York City.
Professional Career

Ann was an office secretary at Chaolic Welfare Conference and worked in the empire state building. She lost her life along with 18 others while at work when on July 28th 1945 a B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building due to a heavy fog.
07/28

1945

Death

July 28, 1945

Death date

Plane Crashed Into Empire State Building

Cause of death

Manhattan County, New York United States
Death location

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3 Memories, Stories & Photos about Anna

Daniel Pinna

9.25k+ favorites

10/13/2020

1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash

On the morning of July 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith Jr. was piloting a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a routine personnel transport out of Massachusetts. He encountered heavy fog and became disoriented as it passed over New York City on its descent into Newark Airport.

At 9:40 a.m., it smashed into the north side of the Empire State Building and the oxygen tanks it was carrying exploded causing severe damage to the building. This photo was taken of the 78th and 79th floors after the crash.

Between 50 and 60 sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck when the crash happened. Fourteen people were killed: Colonel Smith, Staff Sergeant Christopher Domitrovich, and Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate Albert Perna, who was hitching a ride, and eleven civilians in the building including Anna Gerlach.

Date & Place: July 29, 1945 at Empire State Building, New York, NY, USA in New York, New York County, New York 10001, United States

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Daniel Pinna

9.25k+ favorites

10/12/2020

Twelve Victims of Crash Identified

The following appeared in the Times Herald on July 31st 1945

NEW YORK - Twelve of the thirteen victims of the bomber crash into the Empire State building had been identified today. Bellevue morgue attendants said identification of four more of the badly mangled and burned bodies was made yesterday through dental charts. All were employees of the National Catholic Welfare Conference whose office on the 79th floor of the world's tallest building took the brunt of the crash and explosion Saturday.

Those identified were John Aloysius Judge, forty, Rockaway Beach, N.Y.: Anna Gerlach, Maureen Milhoan, and Mary B. Kedsierska. all of New York. Army officials set up a claims office on the ground floor of the building yesterday. At the same time it was announced that five oxygen tanks being carried in the plane exploded when the bomber crashed into the side of the building.

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Daniel Pinna

9.25k+ favorites

10/12/2020

Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building

The following appeared in the Times Herald (Olean, New York) Saturday July 28, 1945

New York - A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant spectacular burst flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan.
Two hours later police reported at least nineteen dead. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the twelve-story Waldorf building on Thirty-Third Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers some of them presumably members of the plane's crew of five.

DISASTER PREVENTED

Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster. The 78th floor was unoccupied, on the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Services of the National Council Welfare Council, several persons were killed. Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.

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