Missing Sub's pilot entwined in bond with descendant of 'Titanic' duo.
Stockton Rush’s wife is a descendant of two passengers who died when the Titanic sank in 1912
Wendy Rush, the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, finds herself connected to both a tragic historical event and a present-day maritime mystery.
The missing submarine, carrying a crew of five, including Stockton Rush, vanished while en route to explore the iconic wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
As reported by The New York Times, archival records reveal that Wendy Rush, also the Director of Communications at OceanGate, is a direct descendant of Isidor and Ida Strauss, two first-class passengers who tragically perished when the Titanic sank in 1912.
Isidor and Ida Strauss lost their lives in the heart-wrenching tragedy as the Titanic struck an iceberg and succumbed to the icy depths of the North Atlantic Ocean over a century ago.
Wendy Rush, born Wendy Hollings Weil, is the great-great-granddaughter of the Strausses, tracing her lineage through their daughter Minnie.
In a poignant account shared on Today in 2017, the couple's great-grandson, Mr Kurzman, provided insights into his relatives' experiences aboard the ill-fated vessel.
He recounted the heartbreaking moment when his great-grandmother, Ida, boarded a lifeboat with the expectation that her husband would soon join her.
"My great-grandmother Ida stepped into the lifeboat expecting that her husband would follow," he said.
"When he didn’t follow, she was very concerned and the ship’s officer in charge of lowering that particular lifeboat said, Mr. Straus, you’re an elderly man … and we all know who you are. ... Of course, you can enter the lifeboat with your wife. "
However, as Isidor hesitated, showing concern for the safety of others, the ship's officer in charge of the particular lifeboat offered him a place, given his age and prominent status.