Josef Heib is the son of
Johann Haip/Heib (later spelled Heib),
and his second wife Elisabeth Paul
of Beschka, Yugoslavia, and
later, of Karlsruhe, Germany.
---------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy Heib.
---------------------------------
Josef was born in Beschka, Yugoslavia
(now part of "Serbia"),
as "Philipp Josef Haip"
(later spelled "Heib").
He did not like the name "Philipp",
so he went by "Josef".
He always kept the German spelling of
"Josef" even after moving to the U.S.
---------------------------------
Note: The name of "Heib" was formerly
spelled as "Heup", and then as "Haip",
back in Yugoslavia.
------------------------------------
Josef Heib's family was of German
decent. The Haip (later spelled "Heib")
family was one of a number of German
families who had gone to Yugoslavia to
teach the people there how to farm
(in exchange for free land).
The Haip (Heib) family lived in
Yugoslavia since the 1780's, first
in Tscherwenka, Yugoslavia, and then
in Beschka, Yugoslavia.
---
Note: Tscherwenka (now known as Crvenka),
is "now" part of Serbia.
---
The German people who went to Yugoslavia
lived in German settlements. They spoke
their German language, even though they
lived in Yugoslavia. They had their own
German churches (and cemeteries), and
their own German schools
(taught in the German language).
--------------------------------
Note: Beschka, Yugoslavia is "now"
part of Serbia.
---------------------------------
His parents Johann Haip/Heib and his
second wife Elisabeth (Paul) Haip/Heib,
and Josef's two sisters, Elsa and Tilda,
all fled from Beschka, Yugoslavia
(with their spouces and children),
during the war (in 1944), and later
all settled in Karlsruhe, Germany.
---
When they fled to Germany, this must
have been when they changed the spelling
of the name from Haip, to Heib
(so they could not be found).
----------------------------
The children of Josef's parents are:
--------------------------------
1. Josef Heib,
(born as "Philipp Josef Haip").
Born March 19, 1911, in Beschka.
m. Eugenie Woruda, on April 23, 1933,
in Beschka, Yugoslavia.
They had three children, including
Josefine and Hermann Heib.
Josef lived in Karlsruhe, Germany,
then Josef immigrated to the U.S. by
airplane, at Detroit, Michigan, on
March 10, 1958, with his wife Eugenie,
son Hermann Heib, and Granddaughter
Hannelore Kramer.
Josef lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
and then in Saline, Michigan, U.S.A.
d. Jan. 2, 1911, in St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co. MI.
--------------------------------
2. Elsa Heib.
b. 1912, in Beschka.
m. Heinrich Guth (1908-1991).
Children: Walter Guth (1933-2008),
and Claudia Guth.
(Claudia married Dr. Wolfgang Schwartz,
and had a son Maximilian Schwartz).
Elsa lived in Karlshrue, Germany.
d. 1992, in Karlshrue.
-----------------------------------
3. Mathilde "Tilda" Heib.
b. March 14, 1914, in Beschka.
m. Friedrich ("Fritz") Kreter
(1910-1996).
Children: Kurt, Werner, and Herta Kreter.
(Herta married Horst Steiner).
Tilda lived in Karlsruhe, Germany.
d. March 3, 1999, in Karlsruhe.
---------------------------
4. Robert Heib.
Died about the age of 18,
from pneumonia, in Yugoslavia.
_____________________________

Josef's father Johann Haip/Heib, and
his first wife Rosa, also had a
son named Johann (nicknamed "Janny")
Haip/Heib who was a "prisioner of war"
in Czechoslovakia. Janny was tortured,
and then killed by the Czech soldiers
right "after" the war ended, in 1945.
Janny was the son of Rosina, nicknamed
"Rosa" (Kniesel) Haip, the first wife of
of his father Johann Haip/Heib.
---------------------------
Johann ("Janny") Haip had married
Barbara Zink on May 8, 1932 in Alter,
Yugoslavia. Janny and Barbara had two
children: Robert Heib, born in
Altker, Yugoslavia and later lived in
Karlsruhe, Germany, and Reinhold Heib,
who was born May 1, 1937 in Altker,
Yugoslavia, and died in 1947, at the
age of 10 years, in Germany.
--------------------------------------
Johann Heib's first wife Rosa (maiden
name "Kniesel"), and
four of their children, all died
in Beschka, Yugoslavia within a very
short period of time in 1909-1910,
possibly from a contagious disease.
The four children are buried in the
German Cemetery, in Beschka,
Yugoslavia, in the same tomb
as their mother Rosa, which she
shares with her parents, Franz
and Sofia Kniesel. Rosa's part of
the inscription on the headstone
reads as follows:
"Rosa Haip geb [maiden name] Kniesel.
Born May 28, 1885,
Died Jan. 15, 1910,
Buried with 4 kinder [children]".
-------------------------------------
Josef's father Johann Haip (Heib),
is mentioned in the book
(which can be found on "Google")
titled: "Beschka Homeland Book",
by Peter Lang (translated by
Brad Schwebler). He is listed under the
chapter titled "The Evangelical Church
& School in Beschka After 1900", on
page 36, (3rd paragraph). It reads:
"In 1924, the church inspector at the
time was Johann Haipp [should be "Haip"],
[later spelled "Heib"].
Also, read the chapter titled
"World War II, page 133 (especially
the last two paragraphs).
Johann's father-in-law Franz Kniesel
can also be found in this book,
on pages 41 and 42.
This book also states that the (German)
Evangelical church was leveled during
the war, but the German cemetery is
overgrown, but not destroyed.
The German Cemetery (Friedhofgasse),
in Beschka, is located on
"Ulica Iva Adrica" (street),
in what is now Serbia.
See this book on the following website:
http://www.dvhh.org/beschka/
history-book.htm
-----------------------------------
Note: The German Cemetery in Beschka,
Yugoslavia, has been cleaned up
(by descendants of those buried there),
and pictures have been taken
of most of the grave stones
(that were still readable).
Josef's Grandparents, Johan Haip
and his wife Margaretha (Mayer) Haip,
are buried there.
The inscription on their headstone reads:
"Familie Johan Haip".
(For more on the "German Cemetery"
in Beschka, Yugoslavia,
see the memorials for Johan Haip
(1846-1925), and his wife Margaretha,
on this web site).
-------------------------------------
Josef's father Johann Haip/Heib had been
financially well off in Yugoslavia.
He owned a machine shop where he
repaired machinery and had a farm
implement dealership.
He would also use his farm machinery
to thrash farmers crops for a fee.
He would have a barber come to his
home daily, to shave him, and also
to occasionally cut his hair.
When the war broke out in Yugoslavia
(when the Germans began losing the
war against Russia), near the end of
World War II, the German people had
to flee Yugoslavia (in 1944),
for fear of their lives.
Johann and his wife Elisabeth also
had to flee Yugoslavia and had to
leave everything behind, including
his home, his business, and his
bank account.
----------------------------------
Note: The following is from a book
titled: "Genocide of the Ethnic Germans
in Yugoslavia 1944-1948" (Chapter 12).
------
1941 - German forces occupy
Yugoslavia. With the German attack
on Russia, Yugoslav partisans begin
raids on ethnic German Settlements.
1942 - Partisan raids lead to evacuation
of ethnic Germans from Bosnia and Serbia.
1943 - Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia lose
all civic rights, are disenfranchised,
and face the threat of the death penalty.
1944 - As of Oct. 1944, over 1,000 ethnic
Germans are killed by the partisans.
----------------------------
1944 - Starting Oct. 1944, about 80,000
Danube Swabians (ethnic Germans), in the
Batschka area heed the evacuation call
and flee-(including our Haip/Heib family).
Nov. 1944 - "Bloody Autumn". By the end
of Nov. 1944, about 7,000 Danube Swabian
(ethnic German) civilians in the Batschka
area are murdered.
Nov. 21, 1944 -
All movable and stationary property, that
was formerly owned by the Germans, is
confiscated by the Yugoslavian Government.
-------------------------------------
After they fled Yugoslavia,
Johann and Elisabeth Heib were
very poor as was their son Josef and
his wife Eugenie. Johann had to wear
pants with patches in them, which must
have been quite an adjustment after
his good days in Yugoslavia.
Josef's father Johann Haip/Heib was
born Dec. 15, 1877 in Beschka, Yugoslavia.
Johann Heib died on May 9, 1962
in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Josef's mother Elisabeth (Paul) Heib
was born in Yugoslavia, the daughter
of Jacob Paul and his wife
Christina (Brauchler) Paul.
Elisabeth died on July 16, 1970
in Karlsruhe, Germany.
--------------------------------
Johann and Elisabeth Heib are buried
in a cemetery called:
"Hauptfriedhof" (main cemetery),
on Haid and Neu Str. (Street),
in Karlsruhe, Germany.
(See their memorials).
----------------------------------
Note: Karlsruhe is located N.-W.
of Stuttgart, Germany, and near
the Black Forest.
_______________________________
_______________________________

Josef Heib was married
on April 23, 1933
in Beschka, Yugoslavia, to
Eugenie Woruda, the daughter of
Franz Woruda and his second wife
Theresia Schreiber, of Yugoslavia.
(Eugenie's nickname's were "Gisela"
and "Gizi". Josef called her Gizi).
--------------------------------------
Josef's grandchildren called him "Opa"
(the German word for "Grandpa").
-------------------------------------
Beschka is located between Novi Sad
and Belgrade, and is "now" part
of Serbia.
-----------------------------
Josef and Eugenie and their three
children (along with all other Germans),
had to flee from Yugoslavia, when
the Germans began losing the war
against Russia, near the end of
World War II (in 1944).
(Josef's parents and his siblings
and their spouses also all fled
from Yugoslavia and they all, also
latter settled in Karlsruhe, Germany).
-------------------------------
Josef's wife Eugenie and their three
children fled Yugoslavia first, while
Josef stayed behind in the German Militia.
Josef came later, and the Red Cross
helped him find his wife and children.
After they fled, they first lived in
Thuringen (1944-1946), and then in
Bayern, Baveria (1946-1949).
They then settled in
Karlsruhe, Germany (1949-1958).
(Josef's son Hermann tells of how it was
his job to take care of the geese, for
their landlord, when he was a young boy).
Josef worked some distance from
their home in Germany, and was able
to come home mostly just on weekends.
His son Hermann remembers spending
many evenings with (and became very
close to), his grandparents
Johann and Elisabeth Heib.
----------------------------------
Josef immigrated to the U.S. on
March 10, 1958, by airplane, at
the airport in Detroit, Michigan,
with his wife Eugenie, their
son Hermann, age 17, and their
granddaughter Hannelore Kramer, age 2
(the daughter of Josefine) whom
they raised after Josefine remarried.
Since all of their birth certificates
were destroyed during the War in
Yugoslavia, they had to have legal
papers typed up, to show their dates
of birth and marriage etc. (as well as
the name Josef went by), which they
needed to immigrate to the U. S.
-----
They left from Frankfort, Germany.
Their "sponsor", Mr. Ward Wheeler
picked them up at the airport
in Detroit, Michigan.
-----------------------------------
(Another one of Josef and Eugenie's sons
came to the U.S. at a differant time,
but was soon-after drafted into the U.S.
Army and sent back to Germany,
to be stationed there.)
------------------------------------
A gentleman named Mr. Ward Wheeler
who lived at 2303 South Westnedge
Avenue, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
owned a machine shop named the
Wheeler Roll Company, located at
1910 Lane Boulevard, in Kalamazoo,
Michigan. Ward Wheeler was also
the "sponsor" for Josef Heib and
his family when they came to the U.S.
so Josef and his sons had jobs waiting
for them when they arrived in the U.S.
The Wheeler Roll Company specialized
in developing machinery designed to
produce and process paper products.
(The Wheeler Company was a division
of the Beloit Corporation).
A company brochure refers to the
company as the "Wheeler Company",
but the family always referred to
it as the "Wheeler Roll Company".
The brochure states that
they specialized in Supercalender Rolls,
Fluid-Core Rolls, Supertex plastic covers,
Magnetic Tape calenders, Embossing rolls,
Rho-Meters, and Pilot Calenders.
Note: The Wheeler Roll Company was
also later listed in the Kalamazoo
City directories, as the
"Wheeler Blaney" Company.
The Wheeler Roll Company was later
purchased in 1966.
Morton Johnson later owned the
Wheeler Roll Company.
-----------------
Their "sponsor" Mr. Ward Wheeler also
rented Josef and Eugenie, their son
Hermann, and granddaughter Hannelore,
a large two-story house that he owned
at 515 Stockbridge Avenue,
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Josef Heib and his son Hermann went
to work at the "Wheeler Roll Company"
as soon as they arrived in the U.S.
Josef worked as a foreman there.
(Germans were noted for being good
machinists. There were other German
immigrant machinists working there
who also spoke German).
Josef and his family did not know
how to speak English when they first
arrived in the U.S., so that made
buying groceries difficult.
They would laugh when they would tell
the story of buying the wrong item,
(such as canned dog food, thinking
it was food for humans).
------------------------------
In 1960, their sponsor Mr. Ward Wheeler
paid Josef for going to Germany and
bringing back a new car for him.
-------------------------------
Josef Heib later became a Naturalized
Citizen of the United States.
-----------------------------------
After Mr. Wheeler died, the ownership
of the Wheeler Roll Company later
changed hands, and the future there
was uncertain, so a friend of Josef's
(who had formerly worked as a designer
at the Wheeler Roll Company), by the
name of Hans Franz (and his wife Lea),
found Josef a job as a machinist, at
a machine shop Hans was then working at,
named "Hoover Universal Inc." at 1512
Woodland Drive, in Saline, Michigan.
(The name was later changed in 1981,
to the "Renosol Corporation").
-------------------------------------
Josef's son Hermann stayed in Kalamazoo,
Michigan, and continued working at
the Wheeler Roll Company in Kalamazoo,
until General Motors opened a brand new
automobile manufacturing plant in
Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1965.
Hermann was one of the youngest men
hired by General Motors for their
"skilled trades" department, because
they counted the years that Hermann
attended trade school in Germany,
as part of his "experience", which
they did not normally do.
Note: Hermann ended up working at
General Motors in Kalamazoo, Michigan
for 35 years, from 1965-2001.
Hermann then accepted a very nice
"early retirement package" when
the plant closed in 1999 (because
the plant had a "union"), which
included two additional years of
his weekly wages "after" the plant
had closed.
(So Hermann was "officially" still a
G. M. employee, for two years after
the Kalamazoo plant had closed).
------------------------------------
When they moved to Saline, Michigan,
Josef and Eugenie first rented "the
ground floor level" of a two-story
home on West Michigan Avenue in
Saline, Michigan.
Josef and Eugenie later purchased a
brand new 3 bedroom ranch-style home
(in a brand new subdivision),
at 428 Hollywood Drive, in Saline,
Washtenaw County Michigan (about 1961-62),
which was the only home they ever
owned and they were so proud of it.
They later added a garage,
a fence around the back yard,
a screened porch, and finished
off the basement.
-----------------------------------
Josef and Eugenie were members of the St.
Paul United Church of Christ in Saline, MI.
---------------------------------
The children of Josef Heib and his
wife Eugenie (Woruda) Heib are:
----
1. son
Note: This son wishes not to be
a part of the Heib Family History.
-----------------------------------
2. Josefine Brigitte Heib.
b. March 19, 1938 in Beschka, Yugoslavia.
m. # 1. Hans Gunther Kramer in Germany.
Hans and Josefine had one daughter,
named Hannelore Kramer, born
Nov. 29, 1955, in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Hans was hit and killed by a
taxi cab in Karlshrue, Germany.
After Josefine remarried (on Feb. 4, 1958)
Hannelore was raised by her Grandparents,
Josef and Eugenie Heib.
Hannelore died (after suffering from
a stroke), on Sat. April 3, 2010,
in the hospital in Tampa, Florida.
Hannelore was the mother of four chilldren:
two daughters and two sons. Her cremains
were buried next to her grandparents
Josef and Eugenie Heib, in this
Oakwood Cemetery (in Division 48, Lot #5).
m. # 2. Robert Floyd ("Bob") Starkey,
the son of Albert Miller and
Alice Marie Starkey, on
Feb. 4, 1958, in Germany.
(Bob was a U.S. soldier in the
U.S. Army, stationed in Germany).
Bob and Josefine had three sons,
and then, three daughters.
Bob was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany.
Bob retired after 20 years in the U.S.
Army. They then lived in Kentucky,
Tecumseh, and Ann Arbor, Michigan,
Greensburg, and Amite, Louisiana,
and then, in Land O' Lakes,
Pasco County Florida.
Josefine passed away on Jan. 29, 2009
at the age of (almost) 71.
Josefine is buried in the
Florida National Cemetery,
in Bushnell, Sumter County Florida.
(Click on her name at bottom of page,
for the memorial in her honor).
------------------------------------
3. Hermann Heib.
b. in Beschka, Yugoslavia.
m. Nancy E. Letcher, in Three Rivers,
St. Joseph Co. Michigan on Feb. 23, 1963.
Nancy is the daughter of
Paul Anthony Letcher and his wife
Thelma Celestia (Bliss) Letcher.
Nancy and Hermann lived at
5299 Whippoorwill Drive, in
Portage (on the South side of Kalamazoo),
Kalamazoo County, Michigan
for 31 years, from 1969-2000.
Hermann worked for General Motors in
Kalamazoo, Michigan for 35 years,
from 1965 to 2001.
(In 1965 General Motors opened it's
2,000,000 square foot Fisher Body
stamping plant in Comstock township,
on the East side of Kalamazoo, MI
along I-94. At it's peak the
2-million-square-foot facility employed
nearly 4,000 skilled trades laborers.
In 1992 General Motors announced the
closing of the Kalamazoo stamping plant,
when many employees with seniority
were then allowed to transfer to other
G. M. locations, but G. M. later changed
their mind, and kept the Kalamazoo plant
open until 1999, but they would not
allow the transferred employees to
came back to the Kalamazoo location).
Hermann and Nancy had three daughters.
Their three daughters
attended Woodland Elementary School,
the (new) Portage West Middle School
and Portage Central High School.
After retirement, Hermann and Nancy
live in Greenwood, Johnson County,
Indiana (on the South side of Indianapolis).
They also own a condominium home
overlooking the golf course at
Imperial Lakes, South of
Lakeland, Polk County, Florida,
where they spend the winter months.
_________________________________

Josef retired from Hoover Universal Inc.
in Saline, Michigan shortly before
he died. They gave him a nice
retirement party at the machine shop.
------------------------------------
Josef died of admocarcinoma (cancer)
of the prostate, at the age of 70,
in the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital,
in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co. Michigan.
-----------------------------------
Josef's obituary was published in
the "Ann Arbor News", in Ann Arbor, MI
on Jan. 4, 1982.
It reads as follows:
---------------------
HEIB, Josef
428 Hollywood Dr., Saline [MI]

Age 70, died Saturday January 2, 1982,
at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, following
a long illness. He was born March 19,
1911 in Beschka, Yugoslavia, the son
of Johann and Elisabeth (Paul) Heib.
Mr. Heib was a member of the St. Paul
United Church of Christ in Saline [MI].
Survivors include: his wife, Eugenie
of Saline [MI]: two sons, Egon
(and Veronica) of Lawton [MI] and
Hermann (and Nancy) of Kalamazoo [MI]:
one daughter, Mrs. Robert (Josefine)
Starkey of Ann Arbor [MI]: 12 grand-
children: four great grandchildren:
also residing in Germany are two
sisters [Elsa & Tilda], two brothers-
in-law, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be held at
1:30 p.m. Tuesday from the Bahnmiller
Funeral Home with the Rev. Ronald
Boldman officiating. Burial will
follow in Oakwood Cemetery. Friends
may call at the funeral home after
4 p.m. today.
Memorial contributions may be made
to St. Paul United Church of Christ
or to Saline Community Hospital.
----------------------------------
Note: Much of this Heib family history
information was given by Josef himself,
to his son Hermann and
daughter-in-law Nancy Heib.
----------------------------------
Josef is buried next to
his wife Eugenie, in the
Oakwood Cemetery, in Saline, Michigan
(in Division 48, Lot 5, Grave # 6).
------------------------------------
Their headstone is located four rows
"in" from West Michigan Avenue, on the
North side of the cemetery.
-------------------------------------
Note: Drive in the West Michigan Ave.
entrance and turn at the first left.
It is about the 10th to 12th lot on
your left (right next to the drive).
-------------------------------------
Their headstone reads:

HEIB
JOSEF
1911-1982
EUGENIE
1910-1999
---------------------------------
The cremains of Josef and Eugenie Heib's
granddaughter Hannelore Kramer
(whom they raised), were
later buried next to them.
---------------------------------
Josef's "Heib" line of descent is:

1. Heinrich Heup, born about 1690.
2. Johann Peter Heup, born about 1720,
and his wife Anna Margaretha Unknown.
3. Nikolaus Heup, born Sept. 9, 1748.
4. Johann Peter Haip, born 1766,
and his wife Maria Sedonia Hoffmann.
5. Jacob Haip, born 1791 in Tscherwenka,
and his wife Barbara Friedrich.
6. Johann Peter Haip, born Oct. 27, 1818.
Married # 1. Juliana Roth.
Married # 2. Katharina Judita Unknown.
7. Johan (Johann) Haip (1846-1925),
and his wife Margaretha Mayer.
8. Johann Haip/Heib (1877-1962),
Married # 1. Rosina ("Rosa") Kniesel.
Married # 2. Elizabeth Paul.
9. Josef (Philipp Josef) Haip/Heib
(1911-1982), and his
wife Eugenie Woruda (1910-1999).
10. Hermann Heib, and his
wife Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
--------------------------------
Note: For more information on
Karlsruhe, Germany, see the
following web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlsruhe
--------------------------------------
For more information on why they
had to leave Yugoslavia, see the
following website:
http://www.read-all-about-it.org/genocide/
Then,.. Click on "Genocide of the Ethnic
Germans in Yugoslavia 1944-1948".
-------------------------------------
Note: See the memorials for Josef's
family on this web site:
----
Grandfather, Johan Haip, of Yugoslavia
(born 1846).
Grandmother, Margaretha (Mayer) Haip,
of Yugoslavia.
----
Father, Johann Heib, of Germany
(born 1877).
Mother, Elisabeth (Paul) Heib, of Germany.
----
Wife, Eugenie (Woruda) Heib, of Michigan.
Daughter, Josefine (Heib) Starkey,
of Florida.
Granddaughter, Hannelore Kramer, of MI.
----------------------------------
Click on photos to see enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
------------------------------------
For more information on the history
of this Haip/Heib family, click on
the name of his father Johann Heib,
below.
------------------------------------