The 103rd anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic was marked on Wednesday, April 15, but a local family with ties to one of the survivors can also mark a far happier anniversary which occurred just one week later, on April 22, 1912.
Ruthann Slossar of Hamlin is related via marriage to Sarah Roth, who was traveling Third Class on the Titanic to New York on that fateful voyage to marry her childhood sweetheart, Daniel Iles, who had emigrated to America the year before.
Sarah survived the sinking and she and Daniel were married only a week after the disaster at a hospital in New York City.
Sarah and Daniel’s great-grandson, David Slossar, is Ruthann’s nephew and it was David who discovered an archive of Sarah’s mementos following the death of his grandfather. The items included Sarah’s Third Class menu card – the only one of its kind known, as well as her Passenger Inspection Card, also considered to be unique.
Sarah Roth lost the wedding gown she had made for herself in the sinking, however she took along her handbag which held the Inspection Card and the day’s menu card, meaning the items made it onto Collapsible Lifeboat C with Sarah.
She was rescued four hours after the 2:20 a.m. sinking by the RMS Carpathia and was later admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital when the Carpathia reached New York.
According to information provided by Ruthann Slossar, Sarah Roth, a Third Class passenger, was assisted by a ship’s officer who “had become smitten with her during the voyage.” He helped her past barriers set up to stop Third Class passengers and onto one of the last lifeboats.
It was staff at St. Vincent’s Hospital who contacted Iles and prepared a spot for the wedding to take place at the hospital, one week after the sinking, on April 22, 1912.
“Fr. Grogan of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary was willing to officiate. A fellow Titanic survivor named Emily Radman agreed to be maid of honor. The Women’s Relief Committee provided a new trousseau (including a wedding gown) and a bouquet,” the account states.
The hospital’s meeting hall was decorated with pink roses for the ceremony and the event even attracted the attention of wealthy New Yorker Louise Vanderbilt, who attended.
Ruthann’s connection to the Titanic inspired her Hamlin neighbors, Anne and Ronn Klein, to host a Titanic theme St. Pat’s party in recent years and Ruthann came dressed in a period outfit for the occasion.
“My outfit was a long, black velvet skirt, wide belt, and white blouse, with a green emerald brooch that belonged to my grandmother,” Ruthann says. “My hat was a black wool pill box-style church hat with stiff tulle that I embellished with feathers and a bird’s nest with small birds in it. I wore a purple shawl and carried a small black beaded bag and walked with a cane that had a mallard head for a handle.”
Ruthann also made a “scroll” for each of the guests which had, “… a photo of Sarah, her husband and the people who stood up for them at their marriage at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in New York City,” she says.
