Joseph Bauer

Joseph Bauer, 95 years, was born on January 31, 1930, in Bekaszmagyar, Hungary (then known as Krottendorf), a German-speaking village north of Budapest founded by the Donauschwaben in the 1700s. The community preserved its German heritage while embracing Hungarian life, and Joseph grew up surrounded by both.

After World War II, life changed dramatically. The new Hungarian government ordered citizens of German descent to be expelled to Germany—even though most, like Joseph’s family, had never lived there and had loyally served Hungary. Joseph’s father, Johann Bauer, was permitted to remain only because, during the war, he had helped a Jewish family escape and hide in the Carpathian Mountains. One of the men he helped later became part of the new Hungarian government and intervened to allow Johann and his family to stay.

Under the Stalinist regime, however, the family’s security was short-lived. Johann was falsely accused of burning crops, tried in Budapest, and sentenced to years of hard labor in a Soviet-style gulag. Joseph and his mother, Johanna, were sent to a concentration camp, where they endured a harsh and difficult year. When they were finally released, they found their home and land had been taken. With the help of friends, they found shelter, and Joseph began working for the Gas Company as a plumber. Johann was eventually released after seven years of imprisonment.

In 1956, after the failed Hungarian Revolution, the Bauers fled their homeland. They escaped across the Yugoslavian border and eventually settling in Germany, where they lived for three years before receiving permission to join Joseph’s sister, Maria Herrhof, and her husband in Chicago.

Once in the United States, Joseph joined the Plumbers Union and built a long and respected career, retiring in 1993. In 1963, he met Therese (Guerentz) Traub, a young widow. They married in 1964 and shared sixty years of loving marriage until her passing in 2024. Together they raised two daughters, Kristina (Kurt) Lundgren and Elizabeth (Peter) Zieger, and a stepson, Frank Traub. He took immense joy in his beloved grandchildren — Emily Zieger, Alexander (Jennifer) Lundgren, Jennifer Zieger, and Kathryn Lundgren — who were the lights of Joseph’s life.

Joseph and Therese made their home in Grayslake, Illinois, at Saddlebrook Farms, where they enjoyed an active retirement filled with travel and friendship. They visited every U.S. state except Mississippi, made frequent trips to Europe, Florida, Wyoming and Hawaii, and took many memorable cruises, including through the Panama Canal. In his younger years, Joseph even drove the length of Route 66 to deliver a car to its new owner in California. Together with his stepson, Frank, they also owned a country home in Mauston, Wisconsin, which became a beloved gathering place for family and friends.

Joseph was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Therese; his parents, Johann and Johanna Bauer; his sister Maria Herrhof and her husband Anton Herrhof; his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Johann (Hans) and Hermine Guerentz and Paul and Theresa Guerentz, and his stepson, Frank Traub.

He is survived by his daughters and grandchildren, his niece Angelika Herrhof Friedman, and other dear nieces and nephews — Ella Sprenger, Edward Guerentz, Alfred Guerentz, and Peter Guerentz — as well as cousins in Germany and Hungary.

Joseph will be remembered for his strength, perseverance, and deep devotion to his family — a man who endured hardship with quiet grace and built a beautiful, joyful life in his adopted homeland.

Arrangements entrusted with Chicagoland Cremation Options of Schiller Park, IL.