WEBSTER -Rose “Mady” (Horn) Heller, 101, died peacefully in her home on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 with her beloved dog Petey by her side. Mady was an incredible woman who lived a long, full life, yet not long enough for all who knew her and loved her.
A Holocaust survivor, Mady was born in Saarbrucken, Germany in 1923, just ten years before the rising to power of Hitler. As a young girl, she and her family narrowly escaped captivity, leaving life in Germany behind and sailing to Israel, then to the States, to start life anew. As a multilingual teenager during World War II, she enlisted in the US Army as a translator where she returned to Europe and was involved in classified work that she kept secret through her dying day. Rose often told stories about the wonderful life she had in Germany before the war, and of the travels she had returning back to Europe during WWII. Once back in the States, Rose met the love of her life (former Attorney) Abraham Heller, and they happily settled in Webster, where she had resided for over seventy years, growing a beautiful family and a large community of friends.
Rose was a friend, a mother, and a grandmother to all who ever met her. Until just her last weeks of life, Rose could be seen each day walking through her Crosby Street and Point Pleasant neighborhoods, waving and chatting with many neighbors who became like family over the years. Well into her 90s, Rose loved to visit with friends and family, walk her beloved dogs, play bridge, bake with her daughters and cook delicious Jewish meals for the family, and spend her summers down at the lake house, swimming or just looking out over the water. She was involved with Haddasah volunteer work for many years, was a Hubbard Regional Hospital Guild member, and was a long-time member of the local Tuesday Club. Yet being a grandmother was her greatest joy. Most of all, she loved spending time with her children and grandchildren, whom she adored more than anything, as well as so many of their friends who became like extensions of the family. Her most favorite years were spent attending sports games and school events, helping with homework, and cooking Shabbos dinners every Friday for family and friends. She loved when family would come to visit, always staying with her at her home, enjoying good food, catching up, going shopping, and watching old home movies on the projector. Her love for animals also cannot be overlooked: letting her children bring home puppies, kittens, birds (even an alligator) growing up, and always having a dog by her side.
In the last years of her life, Mady grew to adore her caregivers, most recently Mandy and Gerry, who could never be thanked enough for their love and their help. Each day she could be seen taking slow walks up the road, sitting outside in the yard, or singing songs and teaching German or Yiddish to those that were with her. Mady was a one of a kind woman who treated everyone with pure kindness and lived her long life to the fullest. She will be so greatly missed but remembered fondly by all.
Mady leaves behind her three children: Linda Heller Weiss and her husband Zachary of Merion, PA, David Heller of Holden, and Sara Brisbois and her husband Jean, of Webster, MA. She leaves her four beloved grandchildren: Alex Weiss, Dan Weiss, Nicole Brisbois, and Abby Brisbois, and their spouses, as well as five great-grandchildren, Avery, Ben, Charlie, Isla, and Callan, plus nieces and nephews. Mady also leaves behind her dear rescue dog Petey who could always be found by her side. She was predeceased by her husband Abraham Heller, a local attorney for many years, and by two brothers, George and Siggy Horn.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, December 29th, at 11:00 AM in Scanlon Funeral Service, 38 East Main Street. Burial will immediately follow in B’nai Brith Cemetery, St. John’s Road, Worcester. Family requests that flowers be omitted and memorials in her name be made to Webster Animal Control, Attn.: Desiree Roussin, 350 Main Street, Webster, MA 01570.