Matteson woman dies on her 110th birthday
BY JAIME ANGIO Correspondent February 3, 2012 10:38AM
Thomas Ising places a collection of photos of his family from his mother's room in a chair where she was to celebrate her 110th birthday at the Applewood Nursing and Rehab Center in Matteson on Feb. 2. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:14PM
The celebration for Jane Ising’s 110th birthday was all set.
Her son and his wife were coming from Homewood to the Applewood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Matteson, where monthly parties are held for residents turning another year older.
Ising, at 110 becoming a “super-centenarian” — one of fewer than 75 living worldwide, according to the Gerontology Research Group — would have the spotlight. There would be balloons, music and a cake: chocolate on chocolate, Ising’s favorite.
But the German-born Ising, who filled her life with world travels, teaching, community service and physical activity, died in her sleep early Thursday morning on her birthday after reaching the milestone.
“I had seen her two days ago,” said her son, Thomas Ising, 72, “and I knew she was weak and slowing down. So I wasn’t totally surprised, but I was surprised it happened when it did on this day. She lived her life to the fullest.”
Because of that, Thomas, his wife, Carol, and Applewood officials decided to stage a celebration anyway, recalling Mrs. Ising’s remarkable life instead of marking her birthday.
Mrs. Ising was born as Johannah Ehmer on Feb 2, 1902, in Berlin. She received a doctorate in economics and taught in Germany before working in research for many years at Berlin University.
She married Ernest Ising, a physics teacher whose “Ising Model” was used globally to solve complex physics problems.
Because Ernest Ising was Jewish, they had to flee Germany in 1938 when it became too dangerous to stay there under Adolf Hitler’s regime. They fled to Luxembourg.
“That’s the day the Germans went and broke up all the Jewish establishments,” Thomas Ising told those assembled in the Applewood activity room Thursday. “At that point, they came in, they destroyed the school, and so my parents escaped and my father took a bunch of the kids through the woods to get on the train so that they would be safe.”
The Isings stayed in Luxembourg until the end of World War II, then moved to the United States.
They spent most of their lives in Peoria. Ernest had been recruited to teach physics at Bradley University, and Mrs. Ising taught economics there and various courses, including German, in Peoria School District 150.
Mrs. Ising was active in the community as well. She was a founder of the Peoria chapter of Planned Parenthood and was active in the Women’s League of Voters and the American Red Cross in Peoria.
The couple and Thomas also traveled the world, hitting almost every continent. They hiked through the Swiss Alps, kayaked, canoed and took ballroom dancing classes.
After Ernest died in 1998 at age 98, Mrs. Ising remained active, ice skating well into her 80s and swimming even in her 90s.
“Up until that time, they were together and they did everything together,” Thomas Ising said. “They had a great time. They traveled a lot.”
Mrs. Ising also had a fondness for the arts. She supported the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Opera Illinois and Lakeview Museum.
Mrs. Ising moved to Matteson to live at Applewood in 2007. That same year, the center’s activity director, Tiffany McMullan, started her job there. They formed a special bond.
“I’m going to miss her very much,” McMullan said. “She was such a sweet lady, very kind and extremely generous.”
Thomas Ising, who followed in his parents’ footsteps and earned degrees in both physics and economics, spoke of his mother’s love for liver sausage and butter sandwiches and how they would discuss politics.
“It was an interest of hers. She and I didn’t agree. ... I sort of changed and she didn’t,” he said, laughing.
Thomas Ising said he also teased his mother when she would get upset that one of his children gave her five great-grandchildren and the other gave her none.
“I said, ‘It averages out to 2 1/2, Mom,’ ” he said. “I told someone else that in certain respects my mother was humor-impaired. She enjoyed jokes, but when my father and I would talk, we’d say exactly the opposite. She would deny it, but she had a Puritan ethic, that if you didn’t suffer, you weren’t doing something good.”
According to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks “super-centenarians,” there were only 73 living people at least 110 years old worldwide as of Saturday. But Mrs. Ising wasn’t Illinois’ oldest living resident. Shelby Harris, of Rock Island, will celebrate his 111th birthday March 31, according to the research group.
Besides her son, Mrs. Ising is survived by two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial services are pending, and Mrs. Ising will be cremated. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bradley University Ising Scholarship Fund.
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