Rosa Stefan

Stefan, Rosa 89, of St. Louis, MO passed peacefully into God's arms to join her husband on Saturday, April 19, 2014. Beloved wife of 47 years to the late Nikolaus Stefan who passed in 1987; dear mother of Lisa (the late Edward) Bulliner and Joseph (Rose) Stefan; loving grandmother of 11, great grandmother of 21, and great great grandmother of 15. Rosa was born on January 26, 1925 in Batch-Sentiwan, Yugoslavia (formerly Hungary) to the former Anton & Rosalia (Fischer) Lehrmann. Rosa married Nikolaus in 1940 and they had their daughter the same year. In 1942, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Nikolaus was drafted into the German Army. In December 1944 as the German Army retreated, the Serbs and Russians overran Rosa's town and Rosa was forcibly sent to a Russian labor camp in Kharkov, Ukraine for 5 years. At the same time her daughter was placed in a concentration camp in Gakowa, Yugoslavia until her ultimate escape to Salzburg, Austria with other relatives in 1946. Shortly after that Nikolaus was released from an American POW camp; he reunited with his daughter and they settled near Munich, Germany. In November 1949, Rosa was finally reunited with Nikolaus upon her release from the labor camp and their son was born in 1950. Rosa and her family moved to the United States in 1952. After working for a farmer in Massillon, Iowa for a year in exchange for voyage to Iowa through Ellis Island, they moved to St. Louis in 1953. Here they raised their family, with Nikolaus spending the rest of his career working for Catholic Cemeteries and Rosa working in the Paul Brown Building and later for many years at the downtown General American building. Rosa & Nikolaus also both spent over 20 years as members of the Deutscher Kulturverein (German Cultural Society) and made many dear friends. Rosa was a friend to all and was greatly admired. She will be missed by her family and friends and all who crossed her path. Services. Funeral Wednesday 10:00 am at JOHN L. ZIEGENHEIN & SONS (South County) 4830 Lemay Ferry Rd. (63129). Interment Resurrection Cemetery. VISITATION TUESDAY 3 - 8 pm. April 22, 2014
03:00 pm - 08:00 pm
John L. Ziegenhein & Sons South County
4830 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63129
April 23, 2014
10:00 am - 10:30 am
John L. Ziegenhein & Sons South County
4830 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63129