This year, as we commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, we’re looking at the ways Parkites have come together to support each other during difficult times. One such incident happened during the summer of 1928, when a devastating accident prompted our town’s residents to rally together t o support a grieving family. Eric Joffs, a Swedish-speaking immigrant from Finland, made his way to America by 1910, when he was about 18 years old. He found work in Park City and lived here until he was drafted for World War I in 1917 and sent to Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington. While stationed there, he married Emma Hendrickson, a young woman from Park City who had been visiting friends in Astoria, Oregon. This came as a surprise to Emma’s friends here, but the happy couple enjoyed their time together before Eric had to go overseas. After the war, the Joffs came back to Park City, where Eric worked in the mines and Emma worked at the Central Drug Store. They soon started a family at their home on Daly Avenue in Empire Canyon. On July 17, 1928, what should have been a care-free summer afternoon turned into one of the darkest days imaginable for Eric and Emma Joffs. Their two children, Eric Leonard (9) and Eleanor Johanna (8) decided to accompany their friend Murriel Peterson over the hill to Deer Valley, where there was a little pond. While the girls removed their shoes and stockings to cool their feet in the water, Eric found a raft near the bank, which he climbed aboard and soon drifted out into the pond. He then boasted to the girls that he was going to jump off because he knew how to swim. The girls begged him not to because they knew he could not swim, but he jumped anyway. Once in the water, Eric panicked and started flailing. He called for help from his sister, who jumped in to try to save him. Murriel, desperate to help, found a board and threw it into the water, shouting for them to grab hold, but the pair, clinging to each other, went under and resurfaced several times before finally sinking to the bottom. Murriel went to the road but found no one to help until three boys arrived for a swim. She pointed to the spot where the siblings had disappeared and yelled at the boys to get them out. The boys were soon able to secure the bodies and brought them to the shore. They attempted resuscitation methods, but it was too late. Murriel then ran to the Joffs home and informed them of the tragic accident. Meanwhile, the boys carried the bodies half a mile to the nearest house, where resident Mr. Wilson loaded the children’s bodies into his automobile and took them to the Archer Mortuary. They summoned Dr. Goodwin, who could only declare that the children had been dead for over an hour. In the days that followed the tragedy, the local community came together to support the grieving family. The funeral was one of the largest Park City had ever seen, and the Community Church building could not fit but half the people in attendance. The Ontario workings shut down for the funeral so that Eric’s fellow workmen could attend. The cortege that followed was so large that automobiles formed a double column on their way to the City Cemetery. The Joffs, overcome with gratitude for the support they received, published a “Card of Thanks” in The Park Record “for the many acts of kindness, sympathy and beautiful floral offerings tendered during our great sorrow.” If you would like to learn more about the various ways that Parkites have supported each other during times of celebration, grief and strife, please make sure to visit our newest exhibit “Park City Loves a Parade!” in the Tozer Gallery at the Park City Museum, on display until March 2027. Courtney Titus is the Park City Museum curator of collections exhibits. The post Way We Were: Joffs family tragedy appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less