Oldest survivor of Titanic dead at 100

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- Edith Haisman, the oldest survivor from the sinking of the Titanic, has died at 100.

Mrs. Haisman died Monday at a nursing home in Southampton, 80 miles southwest of London, her family said.

Mrs. Haisman remembered seeing her father, Thomas Brown, standing on the deck of the sinking oceanliner on the night of April 14-15, 1912, with a glass of brandy in one hand and a cigar in another.

He waved and said: "I will see you in New York."

The Titanic, then the world's largest liner, took 1,500 lives down with it. Lifeboats got away with about 700 crew and passengers as the vessel broke up and sank 560 miles off Newfoundland.

Mrs. Haisman's wealthy father was taking the family from South Africa to Seattle, where he intended to start a hotel business.

Edith, his only child, married the late Frederick Haisman, an architectural engineer, in South Africa. They had 10 children and more than 30 grandchildren.

Mrs. Haisman appeared in public in 1993 to accept her father's gold watch, which had been recovered from the Titanic's wreckage by RMS Titanic Inc. of New York City.

"I was in lifeboat No. 13. I always remembered that. My father was waving to us and talking to a clergyman, the Rev. Carter," said Mrs. Haisman, a frail, white-haired woman who attended the ceremony in a wheelchair.

"The Titanic went into the ice and I heard three bangs. Before we hit there had been terrific vibrations from the engines during the night as the ship was really racing over the sea.

"As the lifeboat pulled away we heard cries from people left on the ship and in the water and explosions in the ship. There were lots of bodies floating. We kept on rescuing people and trying to cover them up against the cold. We were in the lifeboat nine hours.

"I kept looking in the water for my father and when we reached New York we went to the hospitals to see if he had been picked up."