Wife of missing submarine passenger is descendant of couple who died on Titanic

OceanGate CEO Wendy Rush, born Wendy Hollings Weil, married engineer and businessman Stockton Rush in 1986. They were together until Stockton disappeared with his submarine during a dive tour of the Titanic wreck on June 18.

Wife of missing passenger on submarine is descendant of couple who died on Titanic - 1 — Wendy Rush and her husband have made three expeditions to the Titanic wreck in the past three years. (Photo: nypost)

According to The New York Times , Wendy is a great-great-grandchild (ie, great-great-grandchild) of Isidor Straus and Ida Straus, two of the wealthiest people who boarded the ill-fated Titanic more than a century ago.

Wendy's great-grandparents, Isidor and Ida Straus, were among the wealthiest businessmen in New York at the time. Isidor co-owned the famous Macy's chain of stores in the United States with his brother. Their father, Lazarus Straus, persuaded Rowland Hussey Macy, the founder of Macy's, to allow him and his two sons to open a china department in the store in 1896, and they became extremely wealthy from this business.

Wife of missing passenger on submarine is descendant of couple who died on Titanic - 2 — Isador Straus, co-founder of Macy's, and his wife Ida Straus were among the richest people on the Titanic. (Photo: NYpost)

In the 1997 film Titanic, Isidor and Ida Straus are remembered for their emotional bond, with the couple lying asleep in bed as the water rose. In the film, as the Titanic sank in the Atlantic, Ida refused to get into a lifeboat – because women and children were being rescued first – and stayed on the sinking ship with her husband. The couple stood side by side on the deck of the Titanic until it sank.

Wife of missing passenger on submarine is descendant of couple who died on Titanic - 3 — Mr. and Mrs. Straus are depicted in the 1997 movie "Titanic." (Photo: 20th Century Fox)

However, in real life, the couple were both invited to sit on a lifeboat because Ida was a woman and Isidor was a prominent former congressman. However, Isidor refused, saying he would not leave until all the women and children were on the lifeboat, and Ida then refused to board the lifeboat to stay with her husband of 40 years.

One of the Straus daughters was Minnie Straus. Minnie married Dr. Richard Weil in 1905. They had a son, Richard Weil Jr. He had a son, Dr. Richard Weil III. Richard Weil III was Wendy Rush's father. So once again, Wendy's relatives may have been involved in an accident related to the Titanic.

Wife of missing passenger on submarine is descendant of couple who died on Titanic - 4 — Mr. Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, was the pilot of the submarine Titan when it went missing on June 18. (Photo: nypost)

Wendy Rush has visited the Titanic wreck three times with her husband's company in the past two years and now serves as OceanGate's communications director.

The revelation comes as crews continue to search for the missing submarine, with Wendy's husband Stockton Rush at the helm. The other four crew members on board include French submarine operator Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.

Phuong Thao (Source: Daily Mail)

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