Maas, Joan Inge

1932 - 2010  (77 years)

• Name	Maas, Joan Inge  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  Born	19 Dec 1932	Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany   [3, 4, 5, 7]
  Gender	Female
  Immigration	8 Dec 1941	New York, New York, New York, USA   [4, 5, 7]
  	Exeter
  Died	21 May 2010  [3, 4]
  Obituary for Joan Maas	24 May 2010	Chicago, Illinois   [8]
  Name	Inge Maas
  Name	Inge Maas
  Person ID	I19518	Our Family | Descendents of Hirsch Westheimer (I6684)
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2024

  
  

  Father	Maas, Ferdinand,   b. 10 Nov 1889, Hemsbach, Germany ,   d. 1 May 1940, Sachsenhausen, Germany  (Age 50 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Westheimer, Stefani,   b. 4 Apr 1900, Grosseicholzheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ,   d. 5 Jul 1948  (Age 48 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	12 Mar 1922	Grosseicholzheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany   [5]
  Family ID	F7325	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Rosenberg, David Mordeceai,   b. 6 Aug 1930, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA ,   d. 24 Feb 2000, Florida Keys, Florida, USA  (Age 69 years)
  Married	Abt 1950
  Children	1. Rosenberg, Stanley K.   2. Rosenberg, Nancy   3. Rosenberg, Stefani Lynn
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2024
  Family ID	F7510	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Joan Maas, 77, a Holocaust survivor who told her story to schoolchildren, died on May 21, 2010. Born Inge Maas on Dec. 19, 1932 in Mannheim, Germany, she escaped to the United States the day after the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941 with her mother and sister. She lived with her "Oma" (grandmother) in Hyde Park and started first grade at age 9. Learning English at the Blackstone Library, she completed grammar school in 4 1/2 years. She earned her B.A. degree from Roosevelt University, one of the few schools sympathetic to older students in the 1960s, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1969, then eagerly accepted a position as program director, working with the elderly. She reinvented her professional life and won the Rookie of the Year award when she began using her real estate broker's license at the age of 63. She became the first woman president of the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management and a mentor who shared the highest ethical standards with dozens of colleagues in several non-profit and private companies. A civil rights activist, she marched with Rev. Martin Luther King and protested at the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968. She met her husband, David Rosenberg, when she was 15 and married into the Rosenberg family at age 18. Her family blossomed with the birth of three children, Stefani, Nancy and Stan. Her greatest gift was to become an Oma herself to Jessica Holat, Avi and Ben Chertok and Matthew and Jonathan Rosenberg, and her great grandson, Gabriel Holat, whom she fondly called her "Tic-Toc." She was stalwart in her eldest daughter Stefani's valiant fight against Hodgkin's disease. She offered unending support to her granddaughter Jessie and her entire family after the death of her daughter. Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in the early spring of 2006, she vowed to live long enough to see her first great-grandchild. After Gabriel was born, she vowed to live long enough to see Barack Obama elected president. She beat all the odds and lived long enough to see him serve his first year. Joan worked closely with her daughter Nancy to document her story of survival and resistance in the memoir, Oma's Story. Committed to building tolerance, she spoke to school-age children in the greater Chicago Metropolitan area, including middle schools in Oak Park and River Forest, which her grandchildren attended. She also spoke at the Oak Park Public Library. "Remembrance of the Holocaust," she said, "is only as vital as its relevance to the present. Potent lessons about the dangers of prejudging others require consistent repetition to help overcome the residual effects of abusive power. We can build tolerance in our communities by remembering both stories of oppression and the selfless acts of those who have tried to rescue each other." Joan Maas, 77, a Holocaust survivor who told her story to schoolchildren, died on May 21, 2010. Born Inge Maas on Dec. 19, 1932 in Mannheim, Germany, she escaped to the United States the day after the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941 with her mother and sister. She lived with her "Oma" (grandmother) in Hyde Park and started first grade at age 9. Learning English at the Blackstone Library, she completed grammar school in 4 1/2 years. She earned her B.A. degree from Roosevelt University, one of the few schools sympathetic to older students in the 1960s, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1969, then eagerly accepted a position as program director, working with the elderly. She reinvented her professional life and won the Rookie of the Year award when she began using her real estate broker's license at the age of 63. She became the first woman president of the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management and a mentor who shared the highest ethical standards with dozens of colleagues in several non-profit and private companies. A civil rights activist, she marched with Rev. Martin Luther King and protested at the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968. She met her husband, David Rosenberg, when she was 15 and married into the Rosenberg family at age 18. Her family blossomed with the birth of three children, Stefani, Nancy and Stan. Her greatest gift was to become an Oma herself to Jessica Holat, Avi and Ben Chertok and Matthew and Jonathan Rosenberg, and her great grandson, Gabriel Holat, whom she fondly called her "Tic-Toc." She was stalwart in her eldest daughter Stefani's valiant fight against Hodgkin's disease. She offered unending support to her granddaughter Jessie and her entire family after the death of her daughter. Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in the early spring of 2006, she vowed to live long enough to see her first great-grandchild. After Gabriel was born, she vowed to live long enough to see Barack Obama elected president. She beat all the odds and lived long enough to see him serve his first year. Joan worked closely with her daughter Nancy to document her story of survival and resistance in the memoir, Oma's Story. Committed to building tolerance, she spoke to school-age children in the greater Chicago Metropolitan area, including middle schools in Oak Park and River Forest, which her grandchildren attended. She also spoke at the Oak Park Public Library. "Remembrance of the Holocaust," she said, "is only as vital as its relevance to the present. Potent lessons about the dangers of prejudging others require consistent repetition to help overcome the residual effects of abusive power. We can build tolerance in our communities by remembering both stories of oppression and the selfless acts of those who have tried to rescue each other."

  
  

• Sources

  [S349] Westheimer2.FTW. Date of Import: Jul 22, 2003 [S239] Original Import into Legacy. [S21] U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc;), Issue State: Illinois; Issue Date: Before 1951. [S293] Social Security Death Index, Ancestry.com, (Name: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007;). [S1126] Illinois, Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;), National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Illinois, Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: 593882; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21. Illinois, Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991 [S349] Westheimer2.FTW (Reliability: 3). Date of Import: Jul 22, 2003 [S377] New York Passenger Lists, Ancestry.com, (Name: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006;). [S3167] Newspapers.com - Chicago Tribune - 24 May 2010 - Page 1-21, (Name: Chicago Tribune;), 24 May 2010.