Direct descendant of Titanic survivor visits Branson with shoes her mother wore onboard

Joan Randall doesn't remember the first time she learned about the Titanic, but she does recall her grandmother storming out of a movie theater halfway through a screening of the 1953 release, "Titanic."

"All I heard was my grandma say she was angry. She said, 'That's not the way it was,'" Randall said.

At the time, Randall was 10 years old, and going to the movie theater was a rarity for her family. But on this special occasion, she loaded up with her mother and grandmother to watch the film featuring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin movie theater. Randall didn't need to see the end of the movie; she already knew what happened.

A piece of Randall's family history is now on display at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson. On Tuesday morning, the museum unveiled a new, temporary display in the Children's Gallery, which features a pair of shoes that belonged to Randall's mother, Louise "Luise" Kink. The shoes are special because Kink wore them while aboard the Titanic on the evening of April 15, 1912.

Kink was four years old and one of 135 children aboard the Titanic the evening it sunk. She was with her parents, Anton and Luise Kink, and aunt and uncle, Maria and Vincenz Kink. Luise and her parents escaped the wreckage of the crash on Lifeboat No. 2, but Maria and Vincenz were among the more than 1,500 on board who weren't as fortunate.

Randall is one of only a handful of direct descendants of Titanic survivors still sharing their parents' stories. Randall grew up in Milwaukee with her mother and three siblings and moved to California in the 1960s, where she lives now. Today, she travels the globe with her mother's shoes, preserving the history of those who were aboard the Titanic.

Growing up, Randall's family didn't discuss the Titanic. Luise had experienced traumatic amnesia from the event and, as an adult, was unable to recall any memories before second grade. Randall said her grandmother especially did not discuss the incident, except her opposition to the 1953 film.

It wasn't until September 1985, when the Titanic was finally located in the Atlantic Ocean, that things changed. At this time, there was an increase in dialogue about the Titanic and a desire to hear stories from those who were aboard it. Randall's mother was one of several who stepped forward, with her childhood shoes in hand.

Randall recalled growing up and seeing her mother's childhood shoes in a cedar chest, where her mother stored her precious, personal belongings, but it wasn't until 1985 that the shoes began to see the light of day again. Randall said her mother carried the shoes and the blanket she was held in on the Titanic in a plastic bag that she would take with her to public events.

Today, the shoes are safe behind a glass display case at the Titanic Museum Attraction, but when the shoes were in Luise's hands, she often offered to let guests hold them, if they wished. Randall said the shoes have never once been restored. Because they were never submerged underwater for an extended period of time, the leather has held up well over time.

According to Randall, her mother often referred to those interested in the story of the Titanic as "Titanic Nuts."

Luise traveled around with her Titanic artifacts for about six or seven years before she passed away at the age of 84 in 1992.

Throughout her entire life, Luise felt ashamed of her education status, Randall said. Luise received education up to the seventh grade level before leaving school and starting work.

"She was always ashamed that she wasn't very well educated and her mother made her feel ashamed," Randall said. "But when she got up and started talking, listening and learning, she was a different bird. She just wasn't a hardworking mule of the family."

Randall said watching her mother talk to a room of people is what drew her to continue her legacy.

"I could put them in a plastic bag and put them in a trunk, but what's the use of that?" Randall said about her mother's shoes.

Over the years, Luise's shoes have been on display in museums across the the world, including in Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Las Vegas and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Randall said. Luise's shoes will be on display in Branson's Titanic Museum Attraction's Children's Gallery through the remainder of this year.

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Randall said she feels her mother's presence with her when traveling with the shoes. She added, with a laugh, that if her mother has been at the museum on Tuesday, she would have stopped in for the unveiling before nosing around the rest of the museum.

Randall was joined on Tuesday by her son Paul Randall and grandson Gabriel Studer-Randall. Mirroring Joan's experience, Paul said that growing up, the family didn't discuss the Titanic often.

Studer-Randall said although he is generations removed from his great grandmother, he finds the continuation of storytelling important.

"I think it's cool to just keep telling the stories and it just so happens that it's the Titanic, so a whole bunch of other people get involved," Studer-Randall said with a laugh. "I like hearing those stories, just those personal, family stories that would be lost if you don't tell those to the next generation."

Life before and after the Titanic

Anton and Luise Kink were immigrants to the United States. Anton was born in Austria and Luise in Germany. The two met and married in Zurich, Switzerland before traveling to the states. The Kinks arrived in New York, then moved to Milwaukee. This is where Randall's mother was born, raised and lived the rest of her life.

Life after the Titanic didn't get much easier for the Kinks. When Luise was 10 years old, her parents divorced and in 1920 her father returned to Europe. Luise grew up with her mother and had limited contact with her father for a few years before they lost contact entirely, Randall said.

Luise knew that her father remarried and had a son with his second wife, but she never learned of his whereabouts. Randall said it became her "lifelong dream" to locate her grandfather. She hoped to do so while her mother was alive, but unfortunately she was unable to in time.

Through the help of Titanic scholar Günter Bäbler, Randall learned that her grandfather and his new family had returned to Austria and she was able to reconnect with the family. Bäbler is the founder and president of the Swiss Titanic Society and is recognized internationally for his preservation efforts of Titanic history.

In her late 20s or early 30s, Luise caught tuberculous, which she suffered from for two years, Randall said.

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Throughout her working adult life, Luise worked as a farmer and housekeeper on the farm of a family friend, Randall said. She didn't receive a wage but instead received a "gift" at the end of the year, which included some money in an envelope.

"That was a tough time. She worked super hard," Randall said of her mother. "She lived in fear about having any money and having it taken away. She squirrelled away those few hundred bills she got literally in that cedar chest with the shoes."

In addition to touring with the shoes, Randall is working on a family memoir. As the book is still in the works, she does not have an anticipated release date.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: In Branson, shoes of Titanic survivor on display at Titanic Museum