Ruth Elizabeth Becker was a Second Class passenger on the Titanic. She survived the sinking of this liner and became one of the last survivors to die.
Background
Ruth Elizabeth Becker was born in challenging circumstances. She was the daughter of American Lutheran missionaries Allen Oliver Becker and Nellie Baumgardner, the daughter of a photographer. They were Americans, with the father being originally from Berrien, Michigan, where Allen was a reverend and Nellie was from New Lexington, Ohio. The parents fell in love in their school days in Wittenberg University in 1896, marrying on September 20th. Their wedding took place in Springfield, Ohio. Only a few months later, they set off to go to India, to do what was their calling: the Lord's work.
In Gunther, along with others from Wittenberg, they endured extreme conditions to do their convert job, while giving birth to several children. Ruth was the first of four. Her birth day was October 28th, 1899. Because Nellie didn't want anything bad happen to Ruth, she became ill herself through her building anxiety. To get better, the Becker family was soon travelling back to America.
A younger brother, Luther, was born in Lima, Ohio, in March 1905, but died on February 7th, 1907 in Guntur just before his second birthday through tetanus. Allen and Ruth had gotten infected too, just before December 1907, when Nellie gave birth to a second daughter, Marion. A son, Richard, was born in June 1910 at Kodaikanal. In early 1912, Richard contracted an illness in India and at the doctor's advice, Nellie decided to take him, Ruth and Marion to Benton Harbor, Michigan to seek treatment for him.
Titanic
Ruth Elizabeth Becker as a young girl, when her photo appeared in the Daily Eagle on April 22, 1912,
They left Allen behind and traveled to London before making their way to Southampton, where they boarded the Titanic as Second Class passengers They held ticket #230136 which cost £39. Her daughter, Ruth, later conducted interviews in which she stated that her mother had fears about traveling on the ship, as it was her Maiden Voyage, but any worries about the safety were dismissed by the purser.
Ruth later recalled that after the collision a steward initially told Nellie, "We've had a little accident. They're going to fix it and then we'll be on our way." Another steward said something entirely different. They needed to make haste, put lifebelts on and appear on deck. Via ladders, they got there. In one of the Second Class Salons, they waited for more instructions. Her mother saw fireworks and heard music playing, which made a nagging feeling grow that there was something seriously amiss. They had left their cabin in a hurry. Because of this, Ruth and her family were only in nightgowns. It was very cold, as her mother realised. Nellie then instructed Ruth to retrieve blankets from their room and Ruth went down to do so.
While the boats were loaded a steward placed Marion and Richard in lifeboat 11 and then said, "That's all for this boat! Lower away!", at which Nellie pleaded to be allowed in as well, saying, "Please! Those are my children! Let me go with them!" She was allowed in, but Ruth was now left behind, at which point Nellie screamed, "Ruth! Get in another boat!" She eventually got into lifeboat 13 with the help of Sixth Officer Moody.
After the sinking, Ruth gave her blanket to one of the stokers in the boat, who only had on a sleeveless shirt and shorts for working down in the coal bunkers and was now shivering in the night air. She was reunited with her mother and siblings on the Carpathia. Nellie had been worried sick over Ruth.
After the Carpathia arrived in New York on April 18, Nellie told the reporters at Pier 54, "Don't ask me anything. Ask Ruth, she'll tell you everything."
Later life
A few days later Nellie and her children were at the house of Allen's parents. From there, they moved on to the country home of Nellie's grandfather Henry Baumgardner in. They were there to stay in the Summer.
An article in the Daily Eagle on April 17, 1912 announced their survival. On Saturday, April 20th it was reported that Nellie's father J. A. Baumgardner had received a telegram from his daughter Nellie at 11 pm on Thursday stating: “Arrived safely with children and am now on land.”
By April 22, Nellie and her three children were on their way to Berrien Springs, Michigan, home of Rev. Becker’s parents. Sunday afternoon (29 April 1912) the Daily Eagle reported: “Mrs. Allen O. Becker and her three children, Ruth, Marion and Richard, survivors of the Titanic tragedy of the North Atlantic arrived here…and are now comfortably and quietly resting at the beautiful country home of Mrs. Becker’s grandfather, Henry Baumgardner in Berne township…where they expect to enjoy a good portion of the summer.”
Allen was back in 1913.
Becker attended high school in Ohio. She graduated from Wooster College and became a high school teacher in Kansas, later going on to teach grade school in Benton Harbor. She married a former classmate, Daniel Small Blanchard. She had three children with him. They lived in Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas. The first child to get her into motherhood was Jeanne in 1925. Roger Allen was her brother from 1931 onwards and Richard joined the family in 1933. Daniel had his own store for dry-cleaning. Their 27-year long marriage came to an end.
Her mother would be cut deep emotionally by what she had seen that night. Throughout life, she struggled with the visions of Titanic's sinking. Men who had died before her eyes after the giant liner took off to the depths.
Nellie took distance from Ruth and removed her from her testament eventually. She even had a beef with Marion, who died young in 1944, but Nellie didn't want to visit her funeral. She only left her estate to her son Richard, but Ruth still had to act as a executrix while receiving nothing from Nellies' will after she had died in 1956, as Richard was not deemed capable of bearing the responsibility alone.
After the disaster, Ruth initially refused to talk about the Titanic. Only after her retirement, she began speaking about it, granting interviews and attending conventions of the Titanic Historical Society. In 1982, Becker joined several other survivors at a Titanic Historical Society convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania commemorating the 70th anniversary of Titanic's sinking. She would attend two more conventions in 1987 and in 1988.
In March 1990, Ruth made her first sea voyage since 1912, which was a cruise to Mexico. She died later that year at the age of 90. Her ashes were scattered over the spot where the Titanic lies, as she wanted it that way.