Individual Details

Nickname:<NICK> Lissie BIOGRAPHY: Elizabeth Marion Steitz was th e youngest of 16 children. Her parents, Mathias and Maria Steitz had 1 5 children before her b irth, eleven of whom died in Europe. They wer e all single births, only five su rvived infancy - all boys. It seem s that Maria didn't have enough breast milk. It was said by Grandm a (Clara) Rastatter that when the church bells rang, tha t maybe anoth er Steitz baby had died. Now the story continues that Maria praye d t o have another child, and for that child to be a girl. Of course he r prayer s were answered, and so daughter Elizabeth was born. Elizabe th (Hungarian Erss ebet) arrived in the US at Ellis Island, with mothe r Maria and brothers George, Steve and Joseph on August 8, 1913 aboar d the RMS Pannonia (of the Cunard Line ) from Carnaro, Trieste, Austri a. They joined Mathias who had arrived in the U S earlier, and settle d in Cleveland, Ohio. The Mathias Steitz and Michael Rast atter famil ies knew of each other when they lived in Deutsche St Peter, but we r e not really acquainted then. So, some years after they arrived i n the US, Mar ia Steitz and daughter Elizabeth tried to make contact w ith a Rastatter family that they had known while living in Europe, th e Rastatter family who were paren ts of Anton and Theresa. Of course , they ended up at the home of Michael and C lara Rastatter. As luc k would have it, their son James (Jack) was just home fr om duty wit h the Marines. After The Steitz's had left, he told his mother "so m e day I'm going to marry that girl". James became very friendly wit h the Steit z boys. Finally, some family member caught on and said, " I think Jack is comin g to visit Lissie." Their courtship officiall y began and the rest of course, i s history! Elizabeth was a very rel igious woman, who (at least in her later ye ars), attended morning mas s daily. Her Grandson Michael remembers the great mi nced meat sandwi ches that she made by hand (grinding bologna, pickles and mayon naise ) for lunch when he was attending St. Jeromes' grade school.

Birth	May 17, 1903	German St. Peter, Arad, Romania
Immigration	Aug 8, 1913	German St. Peter, Arad, Romania
Marriage	Oct 10, 1923	St. Peter's Church, Cleveland, Ohio - James Mathew Rastatter
Death	Jul 12, 1973	Cleveland, Ohio

Spouse	James Mathew Rastatter (1899 - 1973)
Child	Living Rastatter ( - )
Child	Lillian Claire Rastatter (1925 - )
Child	James Richard Rastatter Sr. (1926 - 1985)
Child	Thomas Francis Rastatter Sr. (1928 - )
Child	Elizabeth Catherine Rastatter (1938 - 1979)
Child	Living Rastatter ( - )

Father	Mathias Steitz Sr. (1859 - 1910)
Mother	Maria Schmitz (1863 - 1924)
Sibling	Christian Steitz (1886 - 1909)
Sibling	Mathias Steitz Jr. (1893 - 1946)
Sibling	George Steitz (1897 - 1974)
Sibling	Joseph Steitz (1898 - 1967)
Sibling	Stephen Steitz (1899 - 1962)