Elise Jaeger

Elise Jaeger
Elise Jaeger née Kann, of Danbury, CT, passed away on June 6, 2023 at the age of 92. She was born in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, in 1930, where she grew up the second of four children to Jacob Hendrik Kann and Dora Julliette Spanjaard Kann. She attended public school in Dordrecht until 1942, when the Nazi invaders of the Netherlands began deporting Jewish families from her neighborhood to concentration camps. Jacob and Dora sent their children into hiding with the help of friends.
Elise and her sister were taken in by Mollie and Gerry Van Heel, in Eindhoven, who were key players in the Dutch resistance. Mollie and Gerry were Knighted for their service to the cause of freedom in the Netherlands and were honored as Righteous Persons at Yad Vashem by the State of Israel. Details of their work is featured in the United States Holocaust Museum and may be viewed at: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn47928 . Elise's father was murdered in Auschwitz concertation camp and Dora died of tuberculosis during the war while in hiding in the town of Huizen.
The children of Dora and Jacob all survived the war and were reunited and adopted by their maternal grandmother, Juliette Pollak Spanjaard, of Hengelo, Netherlands. After high school, she attended hotel school, where she met her future husband, Jacques C. L. Jaeger. They were married in 1954 and shortly thereafter immigrated to Lindenhurst, New York with their three-month old firstborn, Jacob. They settled in Massapequa, New York, where they raised their five children. Elise was an enthusiastic homemaker and parent, who raised her children with devotion and a commitment to their diverse interests in in music, theater, and many creative hobbies. She volunteered in community organizations and pursued interests in painting, photography, and music. She became the president of the Long Island Recorder Society.
As empty nesters, she and Jacques moved to Danbury, Connecticut, where she was the founder and first president of the Connecticut Recorder Society. Elise had a passion for music of all genre's and performed often with Baroque Ensembles. In Danbury, she continued her commitment to community service as a teacher's aid, and she volunteered at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House. She also served for many years as a board member of the Richter Art Association.
Elise's joyous energy and love of life was contagious. Wherever Elise went she brought fun, and not in a superficial way, but always deeply felt. In her company, something surprising and fun was always going to happen. She was socially gifted, putting people at ease. She managed her judgements in such a way that it felt very safe to be in her company. Lies lived in the present and was ever looking forward and learning and laughing. She never forgot her history, but she did not live in the past. Elise was predeceased by her husband, Jacques, her sister Judith Bar Kochbah, and her brother Otto Kann. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Cobus Kann and wife Jannie. Elise is also survived by her five children: Jacob Hendrik Jaeger and his wife Barbara, Judith Jaeger and her husband Daniel, Sonia Jaeger-Rae and her husband Donald, Frederick Robert Jaeger and his wife Leah, and Richard Benjamin Jaeger and his wife Jennifer, and grandchildren Josh, Jeremy, Justin, Calvin, Coleman, Ben, Elliott, and great-grandchildren Eva, Jullian, Jacob, Maddy, Jericho, Mason, and Mia.
Memorial services for Elise will be held on Saturday, June 10th at 4 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury, 24 Clapboard Ridge Rd., Danbury, CT 06811. In lieu of flowers, family and friends may send donations to the Dorothy Day Hospitality House: Dorothydaydanbury.org , the Richter Arts Association: slrichterarts@gmail.com , or to Recorder Society of CT c/o John Vandermuelen, 10 Eversley Ave. Norwalk, CT 06851. To light a candle or to send a condolence in her memory, please visit danburymemorial.com .