Facebook (Wendy Rush) Wendy Rush.
Wendy Rush is the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, a descendant of a couple who died on the Titanic, and the Director of Communications for the subermersible company.
Stockton Rush was one of the five divers who disappeared on the Titanic submersible that was supposed to explore the Titanic shipwreck.
The sub disappeared on Sunday, June 18, 2023, and the U.S. Coast Guard and others launched a search to find it, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
The Coast Guard and OceanGate now believe Stockton Rush and the other four men died when the submersible faced catastrophic failure. “We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” the company said in a statement to CNN.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said in a news conference on June 22, 2023, that a remote-operated vehicle discovered the tail cone of the Titan lying 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor. “The degree is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger said.
Asked about the prospects of recovering the bodies of the crew members, Mauger said, “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.” He said the debris is consistent with a “catastrophic implosion” of the vessel.
A former employee, David Lochridge, accused OceanGate and Stockton Rush in court documents of firing him when he raised concerns in 2018 about the submersible’s safety.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Great-Great Grandparents of Wendy Rush, Isador & Ida Straus, Died on The Titanic
Wendy Rush is the great-great granddaughter of Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, who died on The Titanic, according to her wedding announcement in The New York Times, which lists Richard Weil as her grandfather.
The wedding announcement says Wendy Weil Rush’s father “is professor of surgery and director of transplantation at the University of Colorado Medical School. Her mother, Polly Weil, is a partner in the Denver interior design firm of Reynolds & Weil. The bride is a granddaughter of Mrs. Arthur B. Griffin Jr. of Stuart, Fla., and the late Richard Weil Jr., who was president of Macy’s New York.”
In a bio of the first Richard Weil, the American Association of Immunologists wrote that Weil, in 1904 “married Minnie Straus, the daughter of Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus.”
According to Harlem World Magazine, Isador Straus “was a German-born American Jewish businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy’s department store with his brother Nathan. He also served for just over a year as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He died with his wife, Ida, in the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Titanic.”
Minnie Straus was one of their seven children, the site reported.
“Once it was clear the Titanic was sinking, Ida refused to leave Isidor and would not get into a lifeboat without him,” Harlem World Magazine reported. “Although Isidor was offered a seat in a lifeboat to accompany Ida, he refused seating while there were still women and children aboard and refused to be made an exception.”
“I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die, together,” Ida Straus said, according to Harlem World Magazine, which noted: “Isidor and Ida were last seen on deck arm in arm. Eyewitnesses described the scene as a ‘most remarkable exhibition of love and devotion.'”
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, a scene in which an elderly couple embraces on a bed in James Cameron’s “Titanic” movie is meant to be Isador and Ida Straus.
2. Wendy Rush Is Director of Communications for OceanGate
Wendy Rush serves as the director of communications for OceanGate and an expedition team leader, according to her LinkedIn page.
She also serves as a “Comms and Tracking Team Member” for the Titanic expedition, among others, the page says.
According to his OceanGate biography, Stockton Rush “is Chief Executive Officer and Founder (2009) of OceanGate Inc. Rush oversees OceanGate’s financial and engineering strategies and provides a clear vision for development of 4,000 meter (13,123 feet) and 6,000 meter (19,685 feet) capable crewed submersibles and their partner launch and recovery platforms which make OceanGate Inc the leading provider of crewed submersibles for charter and scientific research.”
3. Wendy Rush Married Stockton Rush in 1986 While Working as a Licensed Pilot & Substitute Teacher
A 1986 wedding announcement in The New York Times says that Wendy Hollings Weil, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Weil 3d of Denver, “was married yesterday to Richard Stockton Rush 3d, a son of Ellen Davies Rush of San Francisco and Mr. Rush Jr. of Westminster, Vt.”
The announcement called Wendy Rush “a licensed pilot and a substitute teacher in the Lancaster (Calif.) school system,” who “was formerly an account manager with Ladd Associates in San Francisco, a consultant to magazine publishers. She graduated from the Hotchkiss School and Princeton University.”
Stockton Rush was described in that announcement as “an aerospace engineer for the McDonnell Douglas Corporation at the Edwards Air Force Base in California” who “graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton.”
4. For His Part, Stockton Rush Is Descended From 2 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
The New York Times wedding announcement says that Stockton Rush “is a grandson of Mrs. Ralph K. Davies of San Francisco, for whom the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is named, and the late Mr. Davies, chairman of the American President Lines, and of Deborah Brock Rush of Philadelphia. His father is chairman of the Peregrine Oil and Gas Company in Burlingame, Calif., and the Natomas Company in San Francisco.”
A 2000 obituary for Rush’s father, also named Stockton Rush, describes him as “a businessman, actor and entrepreneur. Died New Year’s Day at the age of 69 after a brief illness.” According to that obit, he was a Princeton graduate, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and a board member of Stockdale Oil & Gas.
Princeton Alumni Weekly wrote a story that revealed Rush’s father was descended from two signers of the Declaration of Independence, writing, “Tock Rush, whose forbears included two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton, and whose father was Richard S. ’27, died Jan. 1, 2000, after a short illness in San Francisco,” it says.
That bio also says Rush’s dad “received theatrical acclaim for his portrayal of the frustrated executive officer in the prize-winning play, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.
5. Wendy Rush Filled Her Facebook Page With Posts About OceanGate & Its Submersibles
On her Facebook page, Wendy Rush frequently posts about OceanGate. “Fun to see OceanGate included as one of the uncommon businesses that make the Seattle area unique!” she wrote in April 2023.
Wendy Rush also wrote about the Titan and its trip to the Titanic.
In June, she wrote, “We are lucky to have such a great science team coming out to the Titanic with us this summer! I hope you can attend the event on Monday morning to learn more about their work and objectives.”
READ NEXT: Paul Henri Nargeolet, the Titanic Expert On Board the Missing Sub