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SAMUEL GASS AND LENA KESSEL Raising an American Family with Old World Values
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Beatrice (Patty) Gass |
Patty Gass, the youngest of Samuel and Lena’s children, was born on January 14, 1922. She was described as the most dynamic and fun loving of her siblings—slender, vivacious, and bright. Her nephew, Paul Gass, called her a free spirit. In 1943, Patty completed a two-year course in physical therapy at Boston University’s Sargent College of Physical Education. She then attended Johns Hopkins and became a physical therapist.
Patty fell in love with a young man--a chiropractor--but her father vehemently opposed the match because he thought chiropractors were quacks. In 1950 after Samuel broke up the engagement, he encouraged Patty to marry Abraham Swartz, an army doctor. The wedding ceremony was interrupted when Abe’s mother fainted. Abe was stationed in Germany and so the couple lived overseas for a short period. By the time they returned to Chelsea, Patty was pregnant.
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Abraham Swartz and Patty Gass |
The marriage did not work out and the couple split up. Paul Gass provided details:
“Patty returned to the huge, empty house at 27 County Road to her widowed father who was ill with lung cancer. This was either while she was still pregnant or shortly after giving birth to her daughter in 1952. Patty became mentally ill after the baby was born. Perhaps postpartum depression played a major role in her mental state.
“Around this time a lot of other problems arose in the family. Sam Gass started his lengthy decline to death--his lung cancer metastasized and spread to the brain. The glue in the family, the decision maker, had always been Sam, whether positive or negative. He always made things work and now he was fading.”
“Patty’s mental state deteriorated even more after Sam’s death. She was eventually placed in a mental hospital where she was given a partial lobotomy. Some doctor said, This is the only treatment... Patty was institutionalized for the rest of her life. Abe raised their child and remarried.”
Click
here to read Rabbi Baruch Korff’s impressions of Samuel Gass
