[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 77 (Tuesday, June 4, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING JOHANNA ZURNDORFER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2013

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, for the sick and homebound Johanna Zurndorfer 
is a direct contact with Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of 
Riverdale where for the past 23 years she has spent countless hours 
visiting sick members and organizing volunteers who would call the 
homebound every Friday afternoon to wish them a Shabbat Shalom. She has 
also served as a member of the Board of Trustees.
  Johanna was born in Rexingen, Germany, before Hitler came to power, 
at a time when a family could enjoy a rich Jewish life in a small rural 
town. She went to a local Jewish day school and then attended a high 
school in a neighboring town bicycling there 5 miles roundtrip. At 16 
she apprenticed as a bookkeeper.
  By 1936, her family knew it was time to leave Germany and Johanna 
went to live with her sister in New York City. She took the only job 
she could find as a housekeeper and later as a dental assistant, going 
to night school to learn English. Her mother followed her to the States 
in 1938 staying with her children until she passed away at 101.
  Johanna's husband-to-be, Fred, made his own way to New York from 
Rexingen, by way of Chicago. Nine years her senior, it only took one 
date for him to propose to her. They married and moved to Inwood, where 
they raised two children, Eddie and Susan. Johanna and Fred were co-
founders of Ohav Shalom, a shul with mostly German Jewish immigrants 
that served as the center of their Jewish life for many years.
  Johanna and Fred moved to Riverdale in 1979 and soon joined CSAIR. It 
was after a difficult time in her life that she turned to CSAIR to fill 
a void in her life. The Sisterhood served as her first introduction to 
synagogue activism. From there she established new long lasting 
friendships and to this day, Johanna continues to contribute to the 
synagogue's life.
  IT is an honor to join Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of 
Riverdale and three generations of her family in showing the pride all 
feel in what Johanna has done for the community and whose only motive 
was to help those who needed help.

                          ____________________