Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Last Titanic Survivor Dead at 97

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted May 31, 2009 5:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – The last Titanic survivor has died at age 97, with no memory of the disaster but pleased by the attention it brought her, the BBC reports. Millvina Dean was 9 weeks old when the ship sank in 1912 and claimed her father's life, but spared her mother and brother. The Deans abandoned plans to move to America and returned to Southampton. "If it hadn't been for the ship going down, I'd be an American,” Dean liked to say.

She struggled with poverty late in life and was forced to auction some Titanic memorabilia. Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and director James Cameron, donated funds to help pay for her nearly $5,000 monthly care home bill. Despite her hardships, Dean enjoyed telling her story. “I like it, because everyone makes such a fuss of me!” she said.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

The Titanic International Society says Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, has died. (AP Photo/Nancy Palmieri, File)

An April 3, 2002 photo from files of Millvina Dean the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster, at an unknown location in England. (AP Photo/PA, Chris Ison, File)

A May 19, 2003 photo shows Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster with a painting of the vessel, at an unknown location in England. (AP Photo/PA, John Stillwell, File)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

I think sometimes they look on me as if I am the Titanic! Honestly, some of them are quite weird about it. - Millvina Dean, after visiting a Titanic convention in the US

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Newfound Bacterium Eating Away at the Titanic

The wreck may only have 15 years left, says study coauthor

(NEWSER) - The Titanic's latest foe is a wee bit smaller than an iceberg: A newly discovered bacterium is eating away at the wreck as it slumbers on the ocean floor, reports Discover . The iron-eating species, named Halomonas titanicae, has 50,000 tons of iron to get through, but it may not take it long to do so: The Titanic has been underwater 98 years, and one study coauthor tells Our Amazing Planet she now fears it may only have 15 to 20 years left. "It’s deteriorating much faster" than she previously thought, and "eventually there will be nothing left but a rust stain," she says. More»

Book: Steering Blunder Sunk Titanic

And we thought it was the soundtrack...

(NEWSER) - The mystery of the Titanic , like Céline Dion 's heart, goes on and on...and on...and on... But a new book hopes to end the debate over the ship's demise by outlining a new theory: the crew saw the iceberg in plenty of time, but a helmsman panicked and steered the ship the wrong way, the Telegraph reports. "They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder," says the author, Lady Louise Patten. "It just makes it seem all the more tragic." More»

Titanic Expedition Releases New Images

Hurricane forces expedition to take cover

(NEWSER) - A team of experts working to " virtually raise the Titanic " with robotic cameras and cutting-edge acoustic technology has released fresh images of the wreck. The expedition, which is probing the wreck to gather a full inventory of artifacts, has used robots to take high-resolution pictures of the ship's bow and probe the surrounding debris field, the AP reports. More»

New Expedition to 'Virtually Raise' Titanic

Scientists will create 3D map of deteriorating wreck

(NEWSER) - Scientists plan to "virtually raise the Titanic" next month in what's being billed as the most advanced expedition yet to the wreck. A team of some of the world's leading archeologists, oceanographers, and other scientists will visit the site to assess the state of the shipwreck and create a detailed 3-D map of the crumbling remains. More»

Leo Helping Kate Through Divorce

Plus, Sam Mendes finds his own special friend

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet’s best friend and two-time onscreen lover is helping her through her divorce from Sam Mendes. Leonardo DiCaprio and Winslet “were so young when Titanic came out, so it's fair to say they basically grew up together, professionally at least,” a source tells the Sun . "Kate has always really adored Leo and feels like she can tell him anything,” the source continues. “He's been a rock for her." They last starred together in Revolutionary Road—right around the time Winslet’s marriage started going south . More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website