Washington Dodge, Jr. was a First Class passenger of the Titanic. He survived the sinking.
He was a native of San Fransico, born on 23 September 1907 as the son of Dr. Washington Dodge and Ruth Vidaver. Both his parents had previous marriages and from that, Washington Junior got only half-siblings, a half-sister on his mother's side, Vida Fontaine and Henry Washington, a half-brother from his father's side.
Titanic[]
His father had to undergo treatment for a blood disease in France in 1912. The three of them boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on April 10th, 1912; to go back to San Francisco, California. They had a ticket for Cabin A-34.
On April 14th, late at night Titanic hit an iceberg. On April 15, when Ruth and Washington heard what they needed to do from the stewards, they took their son with them to the Boat Deck. It left an impression on young Washington, who could still describe the loud steam that evaporated from the funnels.
Ruth and Washington Junior both managed to board lifeboat 5, thus surviving the sinking. Washington Dodge managed to board lifeboat 13, and also survived. While young Washington was in the lifeboat, he watched the ship settle by the head, and although only being 5 at the time, he remembers vividly the break-up of Titanic and the screams of people in the water in agony. He felt incredible grief over the loss of those people and was also unhappy that his toys went down with the stricken vessel.
Carpathia[]
They were later reunited onboard the RMS Carpathia, where Washington Jr. was hauled up in a sack, which he seemed to have enjoyed.
On the Carpathia, Washington, Jr. saw his father, and got a mischievous idea to not tell his mother. The man didn't see his family arriving and Mrs. Dodge didn't see her husband either. Eventually, Steward Frederick Dent Ray (who had helped Washington Dodge get in a lifeboat) reunited the family.
Later life[]
When the whole ordeal was left behind them with luckily no casualties on their side, the Dodge Family returned to San Francisco. His father was the city assessor. Shock arose as in 1919 Washington senior had communicated suicide and had shot himself in an elevator of the appartment they were living in. He could only live for nine days untill he past on June the 30th.
He, his mother and half-sister went to New York to live on Park Avenue. Around 1920 lived in Manhattan.
He went to college in the late 1920s. After that, he went on to become Times Magazine financial editor, which he did until 1933 and had several other functions in his substancial career, like public relations, business publications and investment fields. He did lots of travelling and at one point was the vice president of stockbrokers Clark, Dodge & Co.
During his career he found a wife in Helen Kent Hubbard of Middeltown, Conneticut. Their marriage took place on the 10th of August 1932. They had a boy in 1933, Jonathan Washington. Three years later on 20 oktober 1936, a second child was born, Kent Hubbard. Their marriage sadly ended in divorce not long after that, perhaps that's why the second son has his mother's maiden name. That was before 1940.
He remarried to Helen Brown on 7 May 1941, and they were blessed with a newborn son in 1942. He was named Arthur Parrish Dodge. They were living in New York and Washington was a stock broker.
In 1958, he attended a special screening of 'A Night to Remember' in New York with several other survivors.
Washington Dodge Jr died in New York on 3rd December 1974 after suffering a heart attack. Cremation would follow two days later at the Garden State Cemetery in North Bergen.