On Sunday, May 31, 2009 the last survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster died at the age of 97.
Milvina Dean was only 9 weeks old when she, her parents and her older brother set out for a new life in America aboard the ship. Her father died aboard the ship but she, her brother and mother survivied. Milvina of course did not remember anything about what happened that night, but listened to the stories from her mother and brother growing up. You can read an article all about Ms. Dean and her life here.
Just as some of you may not have realized that I am a Wizard of Oz fan, I also consider myself somewhat of an amateur Titanic historian. I even wrote my college senior paper about the ship and the fate of those on board, as well as a 25 minute long speech in High School (that was only supposed to be 15 minutes) with picture displays I made myself. I’ve read many books, watched many documentaries and was a member of the THS (Titanic Historical Society) for a year. In recent years I’ve let my obsession with Titanic history fall aside, but it’s never completly gone. Anyone who’s been afflicted by the Titanic “bug” so to speak, who has been touched by the story, will tell you that it becomes an obsession and you can never get over it. I’ve even put on my list of life goals to go down and see the ship some day. Even though I’m terrified of boats, the ocean, and lots of people in tight spaces…all of which I would encounter achieving this goal. Not to mention it would cost an arm and a leg and I’d have to know people to do all this. I even flirted with the idea of focusing all of my studies on the Titanic and becoming a full fleged historian with a specialization in the Titanic and her sister ships the Olympic and Britannic. That of course, never happened. I’m sad to hear of Ms. Dean’s death and the history that has died with her. May she rest now and perhaps, she’ll now get to meet her father and be reunited with her Titanic family.
