Helene Ragnhild Østby was an American businesswoman. She was one of the passengers who travelled on the RMS Titanic on its Maiden Voyage in April 1912.
Helene Ragnhild Østby was born on November 30, 1889 in Providence, Rhode Island. She had four brothers and was the only daughter of the jeweler Engelhart Cornelius Østby and Lizzie May Webster.
In January 1912, she went with her father on vacation to Europe. They went to the southern parts of Europe and all the way down to Egypt. When they were in Nice, France, they heard that it was possible to return to America with the Titanic. They bought tickets and boarded in Cherbourg. They travelled together in 1st grade, but slept in separate cabins. Helene was in B-36, her father in B-30.
After the Titanic collided with an iceberg on the night of April 14, she stepped out into the corridor outside her stateroom. Here, she met her father Engelhart and together with the Warren's, whom they had met in Egypt earlier that year, the four walked up to the Boat Deck.
They returned to their cabins for lifejackets, and Helene felt something was wrong. They managed to make it to lifeboat 5, but Engelhart soon went back to his cabin to pick up warmer clothes. Helene stayed behind and boarded lifeboat 5; She survived the shipwreck while her father died. His father's body was later found. Helene applied to White Star Line for compensation for all the damage and losses caused by the disaster.
Later life[]
After the sinking of the Titanic, she returned to Providence. In 1914 she, as well as her brother Harold and one of his daughters, became co-owners of their father's business – "Østby & Barton". In the same year, they went on a business trip to Germany. Harold and his daughter returned to America just before the outbreak of the war, while Østby remained behind. When war broke out, she first fled through Flanders, then made her way over to England and returned to the United States. Østby returned to Europe in 1930 and lived in Brussels for ten years. When World War II broke out, she left Brussels and fled to Lisbon. She lived here for three months before returning to Providence in 1941. She never again returned to Europe and lived in Providence for the rest of her life.
She never married. Toward the end of her life, she worked as a volunteer at Rhode Island Hospital. She passed away on May 15th, 1978 on Rhode Island. She was buried next to her father.