The distressed wife of Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, who was leading the submarine expedition to the Titanic when it vanished on Sunday, has ancestral ties to two affluent first-class passengers who lost their lives during the Titanic's tragic sinking in 1912, according to a report.
Wendy Rush is the great-great-granddaughter of Isador and Ida Straus, who were among the wealthiest passengers on the Titanic's tragic transatlantic voyage, according to archived papers obtained by the New York Times. Isador Straus was also the co-founder of Macy's department store. This comes as a desperate and mammoth rescue operation is underway to locate the ill-fated Titanic-bound submersible Titan.
Connection with the Titanic
The Straus couple is known for their poignant display of love during the tragic sinking of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, resulting from an iceberg collision. This catastrophic event led to the loss of over 1,500 lives.
The fictionalized versions of Isador Straus and his wife were portrayed in James Cameron's 1997 film depicting the Titanic disaster, as the couple was shown in a poignant scene where they were embracing each other on a bed as water rushed into the ship and around them.
According to survivors' accounts, Ida Straus declined a place on a lifeboat, choosing instead to prioritize the rescue of women and children onboard.
According to the Times, Ida Straus made the courageous choice to stay on the ship alongside her husband of over four decades. Witnesses observed the couple standing together on the deck of the Titanic, holding onto each other as the vessel descended into the frigid waters.
History Repeats
Wendy Rush's lineage traces back to Minnie Strauss, one of the daughters of the Straus couple. Minnie Strauss tied the knot with Dr. Richard Weil in 1905. Their son, Richard Weil Jr., later assumed the position of president at Macy's New York, as reported by the paper.
Joan Adler, the executive director of the Straus Historical Society, told the outlet that Wendy Rush's father is Dr. Richard Weil III, who is the son of Richard Weil Jr.
Isador Straus' body was found in the sea several weeks after the sinking of the Titanic, while his wife Ida's body was never retrieved.
According to a wedding announcement published in the New York Times at the time, Wendy Rush and Stockton Rush married in 1986.
According to Wendy Rush's LinkedIn profile, she currently holds the position of Communications Director at OceanGate.
Wendy Rush has had the opportunity to visit the Titanic wreckage on three separate occasions in the past two years through her husband's company.
Additionally, she has been serving as a board member for the company's charitable organization for a long time, as mentioned on her LinkedIn profile.
Stockton Rush, 61, founded OceanGate in 2009. Stockton, born in Seattle and educated at Princeton, is an aeronautical engineer by profession. He initially worked on fighter jets but later shifted his focus from space exploration (with aspirations of going to Mars) to the exploration of the ocean depths.
Stockton Rush tried to acquire Steve Fossett's submersible following his death in 2007. However, he faced obstacles in buying it and instead embarked on the creation of his own submersible.
On Sunday, Stockton Rush, along with four other passengers, went missing while aboard OceanGate's Titan submersible. The submersible was in the midst of an 8-hour descent to a depth of 12,500 feet to reach the ocean floor in the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland, Canada.
Stockton Rush operates the 22-foot-long craft using an inexpensive video game controller as his means of navigation.
Rescue teams are engaged in the fanatic search across a vast expanse of the ocean, hoping to locate any signs of the missing vessel. According to officials from the United States Coast Guard, by Wednesday evening, the vessel was estimated to have less than 12 hours of oxygen remaining.
Encouragingly, search and rescue teams have reported hearing a recurring "banging" sound at 30-minute intervals originating from the vicinity where the submersible vanished, leading some experts to maintain hope that the crew may still be alive.
