Albert Bamberger
This donation to the Jewish Community Foundation was not made to honor me.
I did this to honor the memory of my dear wife, Ida. She is the one who deserves this honor. She and her family immigrated to this country in the year 1937 from Germany. She was only a little girl, age 12, not knowing a word of English when she came to Kansas City. She was tested at school on every subject and did wonderful, except of course for English. Therefore the school put her in her regular class and she had to learn English fast, which she did. Actually, she was so good with her schoolwork that she could graduate at age 17. Thereafter she attended the Kansas City Business College where she attended classes for two years to learn this profession, to better her life for the future. She paid for this course with her own money, which she earned during her high school years, working after school hours and doing her homework at night.
I knew Ida in Germany – we came from the same area. I looked up my Ida in Kansas City after the war in 1946. We fell in love and got married in 1947. We moved to Baltimore, where my relatives that brought me to this country were living. We moved back to Kansas in 1950. Ida wanted to be nearer to her parents. We had two children – our daughter Joyce and our son David. She raised both of them. I was busy making a living. She did a very good job, sending both children to college. Our daughter became a lawyer and our son a medical doctor. I know that my dear Ida is very pleased that I made this donation for her – and I certainly would like her to be remembered for this wonderful honor.