Ilse Jesselson

Ilse Merzbach Jesselson WEST COLUMBIA - Ilse Merzbach Jesselson, 92, died on December 29, 2013. She was born on February 25, 1921 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her parents were the late Paula and Rudolf Merzbach, whose family traces back to the Frankfurt ghetto in the 16th century and whose ancestors founded Bank S. Merzbach in Offenbach, Germany in 1832. She attended Victoriaschule in Frankfurt, and nursing school in Berlin. Her father was sent to Dachau concentration camp, and the family was forced by the Nazis to emigrate after Kristallnacht. Ilse helped to rescue Jewish children as part of the Kindertransport by escorting them from Germany to England in 1939. She was interviewed by Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation as part of his collection of video testimonies about the Holocaust. Ilse married Kurt Jesselson, also from Frankfurt, in 1948 and they rebuilt a wonderful life in New York and New Jersey. Ilse traveled all over the world, including to Africa, South and Central America, China, Japan and all over Europe. She loved music, was an excellent gardener, an avid walker and hiker, and she played tennis and skied. She is survived by her son Robert and wife Sara in Columbia, SC; brother Bill Merzbach in L.A.; niece Nina Merzbach and children in Aspen, CO; nephew Ralph Merzbach and children in Bend, Oregon; and five great-grandchildren. Ilse died after a long illness and the family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Still Hopes, and especially Jameelah Fortune and Pat Pugh for their kindness and care. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to a charity of their choice in her name. Funeral service and burial will be held 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Westwood, New Jersey. Louis Suburban Chapel, Fair Lawn, N.J. will be handling the arrangements and Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, Columbia, S.C., will be handling the local arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.