Dick was returning from his long honeymoon with Vera Gillespie.  The couple had returned via London to source furnishings for their new home in Calgary.  They occupied Cabin B-20.  Dick was annoyed that a steward named Jones was attracted to his wife and further frustrated that Vera flirted with him. (The identity of this steward has never been confirmed but could have been Reginald Jones) They shared their dinner table with the ship's designer Thomas Andrews on the night of the diaster and Vera commented on just how cleak the sky was.

The couple were preparing for bed at the moment of the collision but felt nothing.  They were alerted to the situation by the steward who had been so taken with Vera, knocking on their door and telling them to dress. They were escorted to lifeboat 3 by Thomas Andrews. Dick claims he was in an embrace with his wife when they were pushed into the lifeboat together.

Upon return to Calgary Dick was rejected by society because he escaped. Gossip spread that he had dressed as a woman to get a place on a lifeboat. These stories damaged his business so he sold his hotel and invested in real estate. Vera studied in the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and became a well known vocalist in the Calgary area.

The couple had a son who died on the same day he was born in 1913 and a daughter, Gilda Vera (1915-1992). Dick died in 1970 and Vera in 1973.