Stroh, David Peter

The Sondheimer family had a long history in Germany. Research indicates the family may originally have derived from the town of Sondheim (in Franconia) or from Sontheim (in Baden-Württemberg), with some family members dispersing to Frankfurt am Main while others went to Hanau, where they intermarried with the Ettlinger family. Among the Hanau descendants was the Rabbi Mosche Tuvje Sondheimer (1753-1830). In 1870 the firm Beer, Sondheimer and Co. was founded in Frankfurt am Main by Isaac Leopold Beer and Moses Tobias Sondheimer (named for his abovementioned grandfather).

Albert Sondheimer was a co-owner of the family firm as well as a chemist and active in Jewish philanthropies. As a younger man he traveled a great deal for business purposes. He and his wife Margarete Sondheimer (née Cohn), originally of Frankfurt an der Oder, had four daughters: Auguste, Erne, Annelies and Eva. Albert Sondheimer was a co-owner of the Beer Sondheimer company, which operated in the metal and ore industry. In 1912 Albert Sondheimer developed kidney disease and following doctor's orders spent several months living in Helouan, Egypt (near Cairo) with his wife to recover. During the first World War he commissioned a delivery service to bring books to the German soldiers on the front. In 1932 the family left Germany for Holland and in 1939 immigrated to the United States.

Eva Gabriele Sondheimer was born on October 9, 1917 in the family home in Frankfurt am Main. She married Oscar Stroh and they had one son.