Question: Did Friedrich Trumpf die of the Spanish Flu in 1918?
Yes, Friedrich Trumpf—later known as Frederick Trump, Donald Trump’s grandfather—died during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. He passed away on May 30, 1918, in New York City at the age of 49. Historical accounts, including those from family biographers like Gwenda Blair in *The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire*, confirm that his death was sudden and linked to the influenza outbreak that swept the globe between 1918 and 1919, killing millions.
Frederick had returned to the United States from Germany with his wife, Elisabeth Christ, and their young family after his ventures in the Yukon and a brief stint back in Kallstadt (where he was deported for evading military service). By 1918, he was living in Queens, New York, and had shifted his focus to real estate, a business that would later become the cornerstone of the Trump family fortune under his son, Fred Trump. On the day of his death, Frederick reportedly felt unwell while walking with his son Fred, then 12 years old. He went home to rest but deteriorated rapidly and died that night. The Spanish Flu was notorious for striking quickly, often killing otherwise healthy adults within hours or days due to a cytokine storm—an overreaction of the immune system.
The timing aligns with the first wave of the pandemic, which hit New York in early 1918, though it was less deadly than the second wave that fall. Death certificates from that era weren’t always precise about causes, but family records and historical context strongly suggest influenza as the culprit. His death left Elisabeth and their three children—Fred, John, and Elizabeth—with a modest estate, including real estate holdings, which Elisabeth managed and expanded through her company, E. Trump & Son.
So, yes, Frederick Trump’s death in 1918 is widely attributed to the Spanish Flu, a grim footnote in the family’s history that coincided with one of the deadliest pandemics in modern times.
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