Family of Louis & Ruth Kessler

Ruth Fisch Kessler was born in safety in Vienna, Austria, in 1933, to Henry Fisch and Charlotte Schwartz Fisch. This happy loving family, which included her older sister, Erika, however, was devastated by two events, the Anschluss and Kristallnacht, both in 1938. On May 12, 1939, Ruth was asked by her parents to take a long and frightening journey to England where they would later join her. Ruth was one of the 10,000 Kindertransport children taken from their homes in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia and transported to Liverpool Station in London, where they were met by foster parents. For five-year-old Ruth, this was a very scary experience. But her foster parents, Stella and Joseph Webber, were warm, loving, and kind. Ruth stayed with the Webbers until the war in Europe was over in 1945.

In 1946, Ruth heard from her father who had immigrated to the U.S. in 1940. She was the only family member he had left. Although the Webbers didn’t want Ruth to leave, her father insisted. On May 13, 1946, she docked on Canal Street in New York City. Because her father could not afford to care for her, Ruth was placed in foster homes. Ruth was in five foster homes and a number of schools until she graduated high school and married Louis Kessler, a nurturing and good man, in 1952.

Louis and Ruth had three children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. They were married for 64 years until Ruth’s passing in 2016. Less than six months after creating this scholarship with his family, Louis passed away in 2023.