Key facts about Ruth Becker
- Ruth was born in India, where her father worked as a Lutheran missionary.
- The family was travelling to Michigan because her younger brother needed medical treatment and her father had gone ahead.
- Ruth became separated from her mother and younger siblings during lifeboat loading.
- She survived in Lifeboat 13, while her mother and siblings survived in Lifeboat 11.
- Ruth became a teacher, married, raised a family, and later gave public accounts of Titanic.
A missionary family travelling from India
Ruth was born in Guntur, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, to American parents Allen and Nellie Becker. Her father worked as a Lutheran missionary. When Ruth’s younger brother Richard became ill, the family decided that Nellie would take the children to the United States while Allen remained temporarily in India.
Nellie travelled with Ruth, Marion, Richard, and the youngest child, Ruth’s baby sister. Their destination was Michigan, where relatives and medical care were available. They boarded Titanic at Southampton in second class and occupied cabin F-4 or F-8 in differing records.
A twelve-year-old helping with younger children
Ruth was old enough to help her mother during the voyage. She later remembered pushing Richard around the enclosed second class promenade in a stroller provided aboard the ship. The family’s days before the collision were those of a parent managing several young children during a long journey.
That responsibility continued during the emergency. Ruth was not a small child carried passively to a boat, but she was still a twelve-year-old dependent on incomplete instructions and the decisions of adults around her.
Separated during the lifeboat loading
According to Becker’s later account, Nellie sent Ruth toward the cabin to obtain blankets because of the cold. Before Ruth could return, the younger children were placed into Lifeboat 11 and Nellie climbed in with them. She called for Ruth to take the next boat.
Ruth approached Lifeboat 13 and was lifted aboard by a crew member. The separation meant that neither Ruth nor her mother could be certain the other had escaped. It also placed Ruth in one of the best-known episodes of the evacuation, when Boat 13 drifted beneath Boat 15 and had to be pushed away to avoid being lowered upon.
Lifeboat 13 and rescue by Carpathia
Boat 13 carried a large group of second and third class passengers and crew. After it reached the water, the falls did not release immediately, and the boat was in danger as Boat 15 descended above it. Crew members cut or freed the ropes and moved the boat clear.
Ruth spent the remaining night among people she did not know, uncertain about her family. After Carpathia began taking survivors aboard, she found that her mother and siblings were alive. The family continued to New York and then joined Allen Becker in Michigan.
Teaching, marriage, and decades of private life
Ruth studied and became a teacher. She married Daniel Blanchard and raised three children. For many years she spoke little about Titanic, a pattern shared by survivors who preferred to build lives not organized around the disaster.
Later, especially after retirement, she attended Titanic Historical Society events and gave interviews. Her accounts preserved the perspective of an older child who could remember the ship, separation, the lifeboat, and reunion, while also reflecting across many decades.
Death and place among the final survivors
Ruth Becker died on July 6, 1990, at age 90. Her ashes were later scattered over the area of the North Atlantic where Titanic sank, according to her wishes.
She was the second person in the final group of twenty passenger survivors to die. Her biography is especially valuable because it links contemporary family records with a substantial body of later recorded memory.
Sources for Ruth Becker’s biography
These sources document her family, lifeboat separation, later life, and place among the final survivors.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Ruth Elizabeth Becker Family journey, Boats 11 and 13, later life, and passenger record.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Lifeboat 13 Boat history, lowering danger, and occupants.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Ruth Blanchard obituary Contemporary report of her death.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: last survivors to die Her position in the final survivor chronology.
Continue Ruth Becker’s story
Frequently asked questions
Which lifeboat saved Ruth Becker?
Ruth Becker survived in Lifeboat 13.
Why was Ruth separated from her family?
Her mother and younger siblings were placed in Lifeboat 11 while Ruth was away or standing apart; she was then directed to the next boat.
Did the Becker family reunite?
Yes. Ruth found her mother and siblings aboard Carpathia.
What did Ruth Becker do after Titanic?
She became a teacher, married, raised three children, and later attended Titanic events and gave interviews.