Yetta Meister
- Published: January 10, 2013
Yetta was born in Baltimore, Md. on Feb. 22, 1922, the daughter of Russian immigrants who had arrived in this country ten years earlier. She often told people that she was born on Washington Street on Washington’s birthday. Since Feb. 22 was a holiday (until the advent of Presidents’ Day as a Monday holiday), she always had the birthday present of having her children home from school to spend the day with her.
Yetta was a devoted daughter and a loving sister to her five brothers. She met her husband, Michael Meister, at a wedding in 1951. When they went out dancing after the wedding, she said that she knew that “he was the one for her.” They lived in Baltimore for their entire marriage, raising their three children there. Michael died in 1982, and Yetta remained in the Baltimore area until moving to Ohio in 2008. She lived in Beavercreek and Fairborn before taking up residence at Friends Care in August of 2012.
Yetta was known for telling jokes to her care providers. She picked up new material from joke books, and she had good delivery. She was also known for her diet, which did not include anything with even a hint of sweetness, and she insisted on really good rye bread. She loved to dance, and she did her “jitterbug” as recently as two years ago at a family event in Pittsburgh. Bingo was her favorite pastime, and in recent years, she went electronic with Wii bowling.
Yetta is survived by her children, Mark (Carla Steiger) Meister, Barbara (Michael Jenkins) Meister-Jenkins and Abby Rodgers; her grandchildren, Rachel Steiger-Meister, Kaitlin (Ed Rudberg) Steiger-Meister, Tristan Masi, Sasha Masi and Jesse Jenkins; her great-grandson, Caeden Masi; and her brothers, David Haransky and Meyer (Dorothy) Haransky.
Burial took place in Baltimore on Dec. 26. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, 2600 DeWeese Parkway, Dayton, OH 45414.
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