Gretchen Fiske Leopold Longley was a First Class passenger on RMS Titanic.
Early life[]
On September 1, 1890, Gretchen was born in Hudson, Columbia County, New York. Her father was, a lawyer and former mayor of the town. Her mother was Mary Deare Andrews Gretchen was a late child, her parents were both 40 years when she was born. Her parents had both died when she was only 12. After her mother passed, she and her father lived with her grandparents, the parents of her mother. He passed in 1902. Therefore, in 1905 she lived with her aunt Cornelia Andrews in Hudson whilst being educated at a Ladies’ School in Boston.
Titanic[]
Miss Longley came onboard Titanic in Southampton, she had taken cabin D-9. The aunts from her mother’s side, Cornelia Andrews and Anna Hogeboom also boarded. They had cabin D-7 next to her.
On the night of April 14, the ladies felt a disturbance and it became clear that they had collided with an iceberg, as her aunt Cornelia found out when splinters of ice fell through her porthole. Gretchen went out to investigate and a steward told her things were fine. Cornelia was not satisfied and later on she met up with a steward they knew better, and found out they had to go to the Boat Deck with their lifebelts.
She and her aunts were rescued in Lifeboat 10 while Titanic foundered. When they were rescued by the RMS Carpathia, Cornelia, Anna and Gretchen refused to stay in a cabin as there were other people in much worse conditions. Instead, they slept in the lounge.
Gretchen Fiske Longley later married Dr. Raymond Leopold on 21 October 1913. They had 3 children together and settled in Philiadelphia. Raymond would go on to become executive vice president of Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital.
Later life[]
After the Titanic disaster she still took voyages on various ships and ran an antique shop in Philadelphia.
She became a widow when Raymond died on June 30, 1957. In 1965, on of her sons died at a young age.
She died as Mrs. Gretchen Leopold on August 11, 1965 of a sudden illness, but she was 74 years old. She died aboard a ship, the SS Constitution, which was on a cruise, near Genua, Italy. Gretchen was buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.