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ST GEORGE — On the frigid evening of April 14, 1912, disaster struck. The state-of-the-art ocean liner Titanic, carrying 2,208 passengers and crew, collided with an iceberg little more than 1,000 miles from its destination, Pier 59, Hudson River, New York City. Two hours and 40 minutes later, the unthinkable happened: the Titanic sank in 12,500 feet of water, settling on the bottom of the North Atlantic, claiming the lives of 1,496 people.
Among the passengers was Irene Colvin Corbett, a remarkable woman distinguished as the only known member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aboard the ill-fated Titanic.
At 30 years old, the Utah native was returning to Provo after spending six months in London, training at the General Lying-In Hospital to become a midwife. Despite traveling in second class — which should have nearly guaranteed her a spot in a lifeboat — Corbett was not among the more than 700 survivors. The exact circumstances of her final moments remain unknown, and her body was never recovered.
According to her great-granddaughter Liz Corbett Plumb, "Irene possessed a sharp intellect, unwavering ambition and unshakeable resilience." Had she lived today, her motto quite likely would have been 'Go big or go home.'
