Millvina Dean

Kansas Women

48” x 48”

Oil on Linen

Elizabeth Gladys “Millvina” Dean was born February 2, 1912. Her parents decided to leave England and emigrate to Wichita, Kansas to open a tobacco shop. Millvina was barely two months old, the youngest passenger aboard the RMS Titanic. The night of April 14th, 1912, her father felt the ship’s collision with the iceberg, and told his wife to dress the children and go up on deck. Millvina, her mother and brother Bertram, were placed in Lifeboat 10, being the first few to escape the sinking ship. Her father did not survive, and his body was never identified.

It was not until Millvina was eight years old, when her mother was to remarry, that she learned she had been a passenger on the Titanic.

Today, Millvina Dean remains the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster. She recently auctioned her Titanic memorabilia, including a century old suitcase that was donated to her family after they were rescued, to help pay for her nursing care costs.

Millvina Dean died May 31st, 2009, after this painting was completed.