Who is Wendy Rush? Missing OceanGate CEO’s wife is descendant of wealthy Titanic couple who died arm-in-arm

2023-06-22 16:56

In James Cameron's 1997 film 'Titanic', the elderly couple, Isidor and Ida Straus, are depicted lying on their bed as the water rises around them

NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA: Wendy Rush, wife of OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush who is currently feared missing along with four other crew members in the Titan submersible touring the Titanic wreckage site, is reportedly related to Isidor and Ida Straus, a wealthy couple who died in the Titanic tragedy in 1912. The tragic pair was also portrayed onscreen in James Cameron’s classic 1997 film ‘Titanic'.

Wendy is a descendant of the Straus family, with Isidor and Ida being her great-great-grandparents, as per The New York Times. In Cameron’s 1997 film, a fictionalized depiction of the elderly couple showed them embracing on a bed as water rushed into the British passenger liner before it sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after being hit by an iceberg. The information about Wendy’s real-life connection to Isidor and Ida comes as rescuers are racing against time to find her husband along with the other passengers of the Titan submersible, which disappeared on Sunday, June 18.

What is known about Wendy Rush?

Wendy, born Wendy Hollings Weil, married OceanGate Expeditions CEO, Stockton, in 1986. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus, the couple who is known for their tragic love story aboard the 1912 passenger liner Titanic. Wendy is related to the pair through their daughter Minnie, who married Dr Richard Weil in 1905.

While Isidor was the co-owner of Macy’s Department Store, Minnie and Dr Weil’s son, Richard Weil Jr, served as the president of Macy’s New York. The latter’s son, Dr Richard Weil III, is Wendy’s father, thus making her a descendant of Isidor and Ida. Wendy currently works as the communications director of OceanGate Expeditions.

According to her LinkedIn page, Wendy took three OceanGate Expeditions tours to the Titanic wreckage site along with her husband in the last two years. She has also served as a longtime board member of the company’s charitable foundation. Wendy is yet to issue a statement about Stockton’s disappearance alongside the Titan submersible.

A look at Isidor and Ida Straus’ story

The Straus’ were two first-class passengers in the 1912 Titanic ocean liner’s maiden voyage. The pair drowned when the ship tragically sank in the North Atlantic on April 15 that same year. Reports suggest that the couple were initially among the people who were offered seats on a lifeboat during the Titanic tragedy, Isidor as the prominent congressman and co-owner of Macy’s department store and Ida as a woman.

However, Isidor refused the offer saying he would not leave the liner to go until all the women and children were taken to safety. Following Isidor’s decision, Ida refused to leave the Titanic without her husband of 40 years. Ida even gave her mink coat to her maid, Ellen Bird, in order to keep the latter warm as she sailed away from the disaster on a lifeboat.

Unfortunately, the pair were among the thousands who succumbed to the tragedy and were reportedly seen standing arm-in-arm on the Titanic’s deck as the ship sank beneath the North Atlantic. Their story was later shown in Cameron’s 1997 film, ‘Titanic'. In one of the most tragic yet poignant scenes from the film, the fictional Straus’ were seen in each other’s embrace atop a bed as water entered into the fateful ship after the iceberg incident. As per The New York Times archives, Isidor’s body was found nearly two weeks after the Titanic sank while Ida’s remains stayed undiscovered.