Wadi'ah Nakid was a passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
Born as Wadi'ah Mu’awwad on November 18, 1892, she was the daughter of Mikhā'īl Mu’awwad and his wife, whose name is unknown. It’s not clear how many siblings she had, but there were at least three brothers named Buddy, James and Mikhā'īl. Wadi'ah originated from Ihdin, Zaghartā, al Batrūn, Syria.
In 1909, Wadi'ah had a husband. She bent her knee to Sa’id Antūn Nakid and they promised to stay with eachother forever. He was born to Cattur Habib, who later migrated to the USA in the 20th century. She now had her home in Waterbury, Connecticut. Sa’id was also from Ihdin like his new bride. From their union, a daughter had sprung in May 1910. Her name was Mariyam.
Titanic[]
In 1912, following the example of her husband’s mother, she and her family set about on a journey that would ultimately lead them to Cherbourg in France, where a liner was waiting to take them over to the United States. This vessel was no other than the impressive new Titanic from the White Star Line, a ship of dreams and unimaginable size that had left Southampton in the morning.
For Wadi'ah, her boy and husband, Third Class was all they could afford, but the accomodations were very good for that time. It was April 10 when the ship left harbor in the evening and so her Maiden Voyage continued.
The wonderful crossing was severly disturbed when Titanic was damaged by an iceberg on the late night of April 14. The lookouts spotted the frozen mass but not in time so the ship could not get around it in time or slow down enough. The result was a touch on starboard side which scraped against the berg, cutting through the iron and creating openings where the water came through.
On April 15, just after midnight, the situation was clear to the captain, who gave the order to get the lifeboats ready fater hearing from Thomas Andrews that the ship under his command would founder. Wadi'ah , Sa'id and Mariyam were on the Boat Deck very late. She and her loved ones were fortunate enough to find a lifeboat as a whole family unlike many other people in Third Class. The lifeboat was likely Collapsible C, thus, Wadi’ah, Mariayam and Sa’id were saved.
The end of the mighty ocean liner came at 2:20 A.M, having broken in two and sinking fast.
After the sinking[]
For hours they had to keep positive that someone would find them on the open ocean but luckily the wireless operators on Titanic had made contact with a ship during the sinking. The ship in question was the Carpathia but she was far away so could not arrive. Then it took time before they picked up the boat where the Nackids were in.
When everyone was safely aboard, the Carpathia aimed for New York to drop off the former denizens of the stricken liner. Meanwhile, Cattur, her mother-in-law, was very worried when she got height of the news of the tragedy and personally made sure she would find out more about her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, or hopefully meet them in New York, so she left Waterbury and traveled to the big city. Luckily she found them there. Wadi’ah and her family were in the Saint Vincent Hospital since their disembarkment on April 18, where clothes, food and were also distributed to many of the survivors, inclduing them. Sa’id also received financial aid, which was a sum of $62.30.
Later life[]
As was their intention, the Nakid couple, that altered their last name to Nackid, were now inhabitants of Waterbury. Sa’id became Said and Wadi'ah was named Waida Mary from now on. Mariyam was named Maria. Sadly she didn’t have her new name for a long time as her life ended after a cruel disease on July 30, 1912, took her away from her parents. Her grave was unmarked for a long time as that was not in the family’s budget, but decades later, her name was put on her tombstone. She was one of the, if not the first survivor of the sinking of the Titanic to lose her life.
After the sorrow of losing her daughter, Wadia had 5 further children with Said. They were Thomas, born in 1913, John, born in 1917 and they were blessed with another daughter in 1920, who was given the name Catherine. Following her were Antony and Frederick, born in 1923 and 1926 respectively.
Through those years, Said worked hard in the mills, the brass trade and as a shop attendent. He was drafted for World War I but came back home. He could not enjoy the life with his youngest son for long as he got ill himself that same year Frederick was born. From December 30, 1926, Waida had to go through life as a widow after losing Said to laryngeal tubercolosis. She remained loyal to him even in death. For the 41 more years she lived, she never had another husband. She also remained in Waterbury. She survived her other daughter, Catherine, who didn’t make it past the age of 33 and died in 1954.
Wadia Nackid died on 23 January 1963 at the age of 70 and her body joined her husband’s grave in the Waterbury’s Cavalry Cemetery. The cause of death was pneumonia.