The New York Times has revealed that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, one of the passengers of the missing Titan submersible, is married to the great-great-granddaughter of a couple who died onboard the Titanic.
Wendy Rush is directly related to Isidor and Ida Strauss. The couple was immortalized in the 1997 movie Titanic and shown lying in bed together as water rushes into their room.
Isidor was a co-owner of Macy's Department Store in New York City, and the city's Strauss Park is named after the couple. The Straus Historical Society has confirmed the Times' claim.
Isidor and Ida had just finished a visit to Germany when they decided to take the Titanic back to the United States. The decision was unusual for the couple, who typically traveled on German ships.
More from LittleThings: The Titanic: More Than A Century Later, We're Still Learning About Life Onboard
The pair's granddaughter, Jessica, told Titanic Belfast, "My great-great grandparents had been on holiday in the Riviera and they decided to book passage back to New York on board RMS Titanic. This wasn't an expected trip, it was a last-minute decision."
The pair's first-class tickets cost £221, which the museum states is around £32,300 today (approximately $35,000). They were also traveling with two people who worked for them, John Farthing and Ella Bird.
The pair were told to get in lifeboat No. 8 after the Titanic hit the iceberg; however, Isidor refused to board when younger men were still on the ship. Ida chose to stay with her husband, but told Ellen Bird to get into the lifeboat and gave Ellen her fur coat.
Jessica said, "They were in their 60s, had been together for many, many years and had several children together. Ida would not go without her husband. Isidor was offered a place on another lifeboat but he chose not to go without her. He begged her to get on and she turned and said to him, 'Isidor we have been together for all these years. Where you go, I go.'"
The two were last seen on deck, where they were holding hands.
Jessica concludes, "My great-great grandparents were very notable passengers because they were among the wealthiest onboard. Their story was shared and became one of the stories of romance and heroism. Sadly, as we know now, there are many stories just like this from the terrible tragedy of the sinking."
