Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, 1,500+ passengers died on the Titanic, among them was Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida.
As the Titanic began to sink, women and children were first to board the lifeboats. Ida refused her seat and stayed with her husband. “We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go” she said to Isidor.
The couple was later offered seats together in another lifeboat. But with many women and children still on the Titanic, they both refused.
Isidor and Ida Straus were last seen sitting side by side on Titanic’s Boat Deck, a moment depicted in the Titanic movie, where a couple is seen holding hands as the water began to rise.
May their memories be a blessing.
Photo: Isidor and Ida Straus at the Folies Bergere in Paris 1907, Straus Historical Society
