Jeannette Grunfeld, who escaped Germany on the Kindertransport bound for England, passed away July 19 in Phoenix, Ariz. The service was held July 22 at Sinai Mortuary in Phoenix, and interment took place July 23 at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.
Jeannette was a stay-at-home mom, a volunteer and a good friend to many, said her daughter Bunny Cole. She always hosted meals in her home during the Jewish holidays for her extended family, cousins that survived the war, and friends.
The daughter of Marianne and Salomon Marx, Jeannette was born June 4, 1921, in Cologne, Germany. At age 17, she escaped to England with the Kindertransport.
When war broke out in September, 1939, she became an alien until a judge declared her a refugee from Nazi oppression. She joined the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service in 1942 and served until the end of the war.
Jeannette again became a non-resident and sought an affidavit from relatives in the US. She arrived in New York in 1947.
She met and married Theodore Grunfeld after a six-week courtship on Jan. 18, 1948. They moved to Phoenix in the fall of 1976. Mr. Grunfeld died Feb. 16, 1991, after 43 years of marriage.
In Phoenix, Jeannette was a long-time member of Beth El Synagogue and the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association.
She came to Denver every summer to see her grandchildren and made many new friends here.
Tracy Shaler recounts Jeannettes wartime story in the book Frenchy: I Wanted to Get Back at Hitler.
Jeannette is survived by her daughter Bunny (Gene) Cole and son Stephen Grunfeld; grandchildren Josh (Eve) Cole of Melbourne, Australia, and Adam (Rebekah) Cole of Naples, Italy; and great-granddaughter Grace of Naples, Italy.
Donations may be made to Beth El Congregation, 1118 W. Glendale Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021; the Phoenix Holocaust Survivor Assn., PO Box 30213, Phoenix, AZ 85046; or the charity of choice.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
