Service for the last survivor of the Titanic

[Andrew Clarkson]

The ashes of Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic disaster, have been scattered at the spot from where the vessel departed on its maiden voyage almost a century ago.

Her remains were transported to an area close to berth 44 at the Eastern Docks, in Southampton.

At 2 months old, Miss Dean was the youngest passenger on board the liner, which sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Her parents were leaving England to emigrate to Wichita, Kansas. The Deans were not supposed to be on board Titanic, but because of a coal strike they were transferred to the ship and boarded as third-class passengers.

Miss Dean’s father felt the collision with the iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and Miss Dean, her mother, and brother were placed in Lifeboat 10. They were among the first third-class passengers to escape the ship. Her father did not survive.

Miss Dean died at her nursing home in Ashurst, in the New Forest, on May 31 — 98 years to the day that Titanic was launched in Belfast.

About 150 people, including representatives from Titanic societies around the world, attended the service.

Her death came a month after Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who starred in the film Titanic, had offered to help to pay her nursing home fees.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk