Josefa Josefa

Josefa Sofie Rom was born in Hinterberg, Austria in 1914. This became Yugoslavia after the First World War and is now Slovenia. She lived on a small farm with her family. She was the oldest and brother Frank was born about a year later. When she was eight years old, her brother Peter was born. Unfortunately, something went wrong and her mother died soon after giving birth. This was a defining moment in her life. She always felt the loss of her mother for the rest of her life. She worked hard all her life. Even as a child, after her mother died she helped as much as she could Ð even standing on a box so that she could wash dishes. Her cousin Anne told me recently, that Sofie, her Dad, and two brothers kept the house as neat as a pin. Anne enjoyed visiting them and Sofie was always nice to her. When she got to be about the right age, she met a man from a neighboring village, and in 1941 she married Ernst Rom. They went to live in his village, Mosel. In 1943, her only child - Walter Ð was born. During that time, the Second World War was raging. In 1944, Ernst was conscripted into the army and had to leave his treasured family. During the time he was gone, the war started to come toward where Sofie and Walter were. So when Walter was two, she fled into Austria with Walter and just what she could carry. She managed to find work as a farm laborer to support them. After the war, Ernst found them, but they could not go back to their farm because it was behind the Iron Curtain. So they both worked as farm laborers until they could come to the United States. In 1952, Sofie, Ernst, and Walter were sponsored by a cousin, to come to New Jersey, where they worked in her knitting mill. It was hard work, but it was only eight hours a day, unlike farm work, which was a lot longer. They thought it was easy comparatively. She loved it in New Jersey; it was beautiful there and a great place for Walter to grow up. Walter learned English quickly, and soon he was doing well in school. After Walter graduated from high school, he went to Columbia University in New York City. A few years later, Sofie and Ernst moved to Glendale, Queens, New York to be closer to Walter and because there were better job opportunities there. Sofie and Ernst were very proud of Walter and how well he was doing at Columbia. They enjoyed living in Glendale and had more relatives and friends living close by. It was easier to live there because she could walk to everything Ð work, church, the butcher, stores, etc. There was also excellent public transportation. In 1963, Walter met Jean Fitzsimmons and we dated and fell in love. In May 1965, we were married and each family was happy to welcome a new member. In 1966, we went off to graduate school at Cornell University. Although her beloved Walter was five hours away, we were able to visit frequently. While at Cornell in 1969, her first grandchild Ð Margaret Ð was born. She was thrilled. Margaret was Òthe apple of her eyeÓ. In 1970, Walter and Jean moved to Champaign, Illinois for his first teaching job at the University of Illinois. In 1972, her second grand child Ð Allison Ð was born. Again Sofie was thrilled. Time went on with visits from Walter and his family as often as possible. She also took her first airplane trip and many more to see the granddaughters and Walter and Jean. Sofie retired when she was sixty-two, and was happy to stay home and take care of her house and Ernst. Unfortunately in 1988, her beloved Ernst died. She was bereft, but they had known that he was ill. They had decided that when he died, she should move close to Walter and his family. So in 1990, she moved to Shaker Heights. Since then she has been able to see her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters frequently. Margaret married Andrew Silberman in 1990 and Allison married Richard Ritley in 1997. Margaret and Andrew have three children Ð Zachary 19, Noah 12, and Ben 12. Allison and Richard have two children Ð Audrey 7 and Robin 4. Sofie was so happy when she was with the great Ð grandchildren. In fact when Zachary was young, she was in good enough shape at seventy-five that she was able to take care of him while Margaret worked and went to college. Even recently, when she was quite ill, one thing that would bring a smile to her face was the sight of any of her great-grandchildren Ð her legacy. The family prefers that those who wish make contributions in her name to The Church of St Dominic, 3450 Norwood Road Shaker Hts., OH 44122, where Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, April 10 at 11am. FRIENDS MAY CALL AT BROWN-FORWARD, 17022 CHAGRIN BLVD, SHAKER HTS, OH ON FRIDAY, APRIL 9 FROM 3-5, 7-9PM. Interment, All Faith Cemetery, Queens, NY.


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