Missing submersible chief's wife is descendent of Titanic victims: NYT report

June 22

Stockton Rush, one of those aboard the missing submersible in the North Atlantic, is married to a descendant of two first-class passengers who died when the Titanic sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, the New York Times said on Wednesday.

Rush, who is married to Wendy Rush, is chief executive of US-based OceanGate Expeditions which operates the Titan submersible that went missing on Sunday as it descended with him and four others to visit the Titanic wreck off Canada’s coast.

Wendy Rush is a great-great-granddaughter of the retailing magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, two of the wealthiest people who were on the Titanic’s maiden voyage when it sank after hitting an iceberg, the report said, citing archival records.

The tragic tale of Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy’s department store and his wife Ida, is recounted in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie ‘Titanic’.

Wendy Rush is a communications director with Oceangate and has previously undertaken three expeditions to the wreckage in 2021, 2022 and 2023, according to her LinkedIn page.