Notizen zu dieser Person
Family records incorrectly list her birth date as November 3, 1908, not November 4. Her obituary appeared in The Baltimore Sun, April 18, 2006: "POTTHAST, Elizabeth M. On Saturday, April 15, 2006, Elizabeth M. Potthast age 97 died peacefully at Glen Meadows Healthcare Center, daughter of the late John Potthast and Margaret Potthast (nee Leib), devoted sister of Teresa Hirsch and the late William Potthast, Theodore Potthast, Marie Griffin, beloved aunt of John and Margaret Griffin, Theodore and Constance Potthast, Richard and Jeanine Hirsch, Robert and Kathy Hirsch and Thomas and Joyce Hirsch. Also survived by 14 great nieces and nephews and 15 great-great nieces and nephews. "Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road at (beltway exit 26A) on Wednesday, April 19 from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Thursday, April 20 at 10 A.M. at St. John the Evangelist Church, 13305 Long Green Pike, Hydes, MD. Interment Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, Moravia and Belair Roads." In his December 2006 Newsletter, Ted Potthast (Elizabeth's nephew) had this to say about Elizabeth: "Elizabeth was bright, diligent, hard-working, but most of all she was a caring and loving lady. She spent most of her adult life housekeeping for her father and brother, Uncle Will. When both of them died, she still spent much time caring for her father's close friend, Captain Theodor Fehr. In those years her sister Marie lived around the corner and her sister Teresa was just a few miles away. Her house was a second home of her nephew, John Griffin; Teresa brought her sons, Dick, Bob and Tom to spend time with her very often; her nephews Ted and Jack came to 'Granddaddy's house' as often as their father would take them. Elizabeth treated her boys with the affection of a mother. "After World War II, Elizabeth spent all of spare time putting together packages of food, clothes, cigarettes and sundries and mailing them to our grandfather's brothers, in-laws, nephews and nieces in Germany. Grandfather spent nearly all of his earnings buying food to keep the relatives from starving. The laws then allowed only one package per month per person. Elizabeth packed and mailed more than 800 boxes. "Granddaddy's brother, Uncle Karl, was a cabinetmaker and needed all kinds of screws which were virtually unavailable in Germany then. Americans were not allowed to send any sharp metal objects to Germany; Elizabeth would fill quart cans of heavy syrup with screws and before the days of x-ray screening, easily got them past the censors to Uncle Karl and to his son, Josef. When Josef's young children needed clothing, his wife would send Elizabeth their measurements and she would have the tailors in Baltimore make the winter coats, etc. which Elizabeth would mail ahead of the cold weather. "Elizabeth was a prayerful person. In her night prayers, before getting into bed she would recite the names of all her deceased relatives and friends; in her 80's her prayer list included 260 names which she had memorized by heart."