Susan Eva Rule

Miss Susan Eva Rule, known as “Sue,” was born in Louisiana, Missouri, USA on 11 June 1859. She was the daughter of John T. Rule, a miller and realtor from Kentucky, and the former Eliza Ann Ogle. She had four known siblings. 

Miss Rule, a schoolteacher since 1882, was never married and lived with her parents until their deaths, with the last of her parents being her father who passed away in February 1903. 

In 1912 Miss Rule decided upon a six-month vacation in Europe; not wanting to travel alone, she acquired the company of her niece May Birkhead, the daughter of her elder married sister Laura Birkhead.

The Misses Rule and Birkhead boarded the Carpathia as first cabin passengers; Miss Birkhead acquired a journalistic scoop on the rescue of the Titanic survivors. Miss Rule was also interviewed by the press.

Susan Eva Rule remained in Louisiana, Missouri for the rest of her life; the last-remaining member of her family, she died as a result of heart failure on 9 July 1948 aged 89 and was buried in a family plot in Riverview Cemetery in Louisiana.