Ida Ellen Wheeler (Waldeck): 1915-2020

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Ida Ellen Wheeler (Waldeck) passed away at the age of 105 in San Leandro, Calif., on September 2, 2020.

Ida was born on May 8, 1915, in Dortmund, Germany. Her father Carl; her mother, Ellen who perished in the notorious Treblinka Nazi Concentration Camp; her sister, Elfriede; her brother, Carl, her stepson, Hiram Albert Wheeler; and her husband Robert J. Wheeler preceded her in death.

Ida is survived by her stepson, Robert A. (Jean) of Napavine, Wash.; grandchildren, Kelly J. (Larry) Smathers of Chehalis, Wash., and Kevin R. (Laura) Wheeler in Utah, nine great- grandchildren and fifteen great-great grandchildren.

Ida was a very brave and resourceful person, who was finally able to escape Nazi Germany, in 1939, with but one small suitcase and a few dollars, through the auspices of a Jewish Group in the Philippines. Although a practicing Lutheran, she was considered to be Jewish by the Nazi Government because of her grandparents’ ethnicity. As such, despite outstanding educational credentials, she was not allowed entrance into a University or able to obtain gainful employment.

Upon arriving in Manila, she immediately found employment and earned enough money to get her younger brother Carl, out of Germany in order to prevent his being drafted into the Nazi Army.

She then married a widower, Robert J. Wheeler, who had two sons, Robert A. and Hiram Albert, whom she took on as her own.

When the Japanese Army captured Manila, she was “interned” with her family, even though she was, in effect, “stateless”. When asked by a Japanese Army Major, “To what Country do you owe your loyalty”, she bravely answered, “Since my own Country has disowned me, I guess my loyalty is with the Americans”.

By so saying, she endured two and a half years of imprisonment and starvation with her family, until 11th Airborne paratroopers miraculously liberated them on February 23, 1945.

Upon the family’s repatriation to the United States, Ida earned her teaching degree and taught Foreign Languages in Oakland Bay Area School Districts - mainly teaching Spanish and French.

In retirement, she enjoyed travelling to foreign countries. While on a guided tour in 1994, to Southeast Asia, she was inspired to sponsor young Asians who would otherwise not be able to afford an education; supporting the education of Vietnamese high school students, Cambodian University students and Chinese engineering students at the University of California.