OceanGate founder’s wife Wendy Rush is descendant of Isidor Straus who died on Titanic

A shock revelation about the wife of missing OceanGate boss Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan, has emerged.

The wife of missing OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush is a descendant of two famous first-class Titanic passengers who died in the 1912 disaster, it has been revealed.

Wendy Rush is a great-great-granddaughter of the retailing magnate and Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, two of the wealthiest people aboard the doomed ocean liner, the New York Times reports.

Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, was piloting the missing submersible. Picture: OceanGate

Isidor Straus, 67, and Ida Straus, 63, died when the Titanic sank. Rather than be separated, the Strauses chose to remain on board the sinking vessel.

Mr Rush was piloting the Titan submersible with four passengers on-board when it vanished on a trip to view the wreckage of the tragic ocean liner.

The world’s most advanced underwater search equipment has been deployed to find the tourist vessel in the depths of the Atlantic before oxygen supplies run out.

Born Wendy Hollings Weil, Ms Rush married Stockton Rush in 1986, the New York Times reports, and has participated in three OceanGate expeditions to the Titanic wreckage in the last two years.

Ms Rush is descended from of one of the Strauses’ daughters, Minnie, who married Dr Richard Weil in 1905, the New York Times reports.

Survivors of the disaster recalled seeing Isidor Straus refuse a seat on a lifeboat when women and children were still waiting to flee the sinking liner.

Wendy Rush, the wife of Stockton Rush. Picture: LinkedIn

The famous Titanic scene showing an older couple embracing was based on the Strauses.

Ida Straus, his wife of 40 years, declared that she would not leave her husband, and the two were seen standing arm in arm on the Titanic’s deck as the ship went down.

The story was immortalised in pop culture by the director James Cameron, whose 1997 film features a poignant shot of an older couple embracing in bed as the waters rise around their cabin.

The couple are commemorated in a memorial plaque at Macy’s flagship Herald Square department store in Manhattan.

The Titanic leaving Southampton on her ill-fated maiden voyage. Picture: AFP

They are also honoured in a poignant sculpture, The Isidor and Ida Straus Memorial, on Manhattan’s Broadway.

The couple had been travelling back to New York with their maid after a visit to their native Germany when the Titanic struck an iceberg.

Their maid managed to escape the disaster by boarding a lifeboat and was given a fur coat by Ida who said she had no further use for it.

Isidor’s body was located and he was buried in New York’s Woodlawn Cemetery. Ida’s body was never recovered.

KING’S SHOCK OVER MISSING PASSENGER

King Charles is said to be devastated at the news one of the passengers on-board the doomed Titan submersible is a long-time supporter of his royal charity.

Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood was travelling with his 19-year-old son Suleman on the doomed Titan vessel when it vanished during a tour to the wreck of the Titanic.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace has confirmed Mr Dawood’s longstanding connection to King Charles through The Princes Trust charity, which was founded by the monarch and helps young people get into jobs and education.

Suleman Dawood, 19, and father Shahzada Dawood, 48. Picture: Supplied

The 48-year-old businessman, who comes from one of Pakistan’s richest families, serves as the vice-chairman of fertiliser business Engro and is a long-time supporter of both The Prince’s Trust International and The British Asian Trust.

Will Straw, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, confirmed the organisation had enjoyed a “long relationship” with Mr Dawood.

“We are shocked by this awful news, praying for a rescue and sending our thoughts to his family,” Mr Straw said.

A spokesperson for King Charles said his thoughts and prayers were with the Dawood family and all those involved in the incident and the search operation.

A second royal source old the Express newspaper: “His Majesty takes a keen personal interest in the people that help to keep his Trust thriving.

“He will be devastated to know that Shahzada is missing but will be keeping an eye on developments. ”

Mr Dawood lives his wife, Christine, and other child, Alina, in London, but the family were spending a month in Canada prior to the dive.

In a statement, his family said he was interested in “exploring different natural habitats”, and had previously spoken at both the United Nations and Oxford Union.

A family statement described Suleman as a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things”, and having an interest in Rubik’s cubes and playing volleyball.

Originally published as OceanGate founder’s wife Wendy Rush is descendant of Isidor Straus who died on Titanic