Cook County IL Archives Biographies.....Kaess, Marie Ellen December 4, 1945 - October 1, 2012
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Brian Paul Kaess bkaess@outlook.com April 23, 2018, 12:45 pm

Source: Kaess Family from the Neckar Valley
Author: Brian Paul Kaess

Marie Ellen Dawson, aka ‘Mary Ellen Kaess’ or ‘Marie E Kaess,’
People liked to call her ‘Mary’ or ‘Marie’. b. Dec 4 1945 in Chicago?, Illinois,
d. abt Oct 1 2012 in Cook County?, IL. Raised in Evanston, Illinois. Attended
Evanston H.S.(didn't graduate); She met and married Gerd E Kaess on abt Sep 30
1967. Two twin sons were her pride. Waitress in her 20's. Res. of Chicago and
Evanston, Illinois. Widow in her twenties. She took public aid to support her
family after her husband Gerd Edwin Paul Kaess died in 1972. She lived with her
children in Uptown and Roger's Park in dire conditions. In 1977 Illinois DCFS
agents took custody of the Twins along with Chicago Police. Marie Kaess punched
a CPD Female Officer to try and keep her kids. She was arrested for this. The
children were put in Uhlich Children’s home and later with a Foster Family
(the Larson’s) in Des Plaines, Illinois. This was in Summer 1977. In Late Summer
1977, they were given over as Wards of the State to the care of their
Grandmother Margaret Jane Swartz. She took care of them until they reached
adulthood. Marie Kaess almost became homeless in the early 1990’s. Marie Kaess’ 
adult children eventually found her and were happy to see her again. She 
lived on the North Side of Chicago during her early adulthood. In one incident,
she broke a window of the family home at 1629 W. Hollywood Ave. and made Garret
Kaess very angry. He chased her down the street. No punches were thrown. Marie E
Dawson was a longtime resident of Columbus Park Nursing Center on the 
West Side of Chicago, in the Austin neighborhood. There was a family 
yarn that Marie E Kaess was beat up by a black person in the early 1990’s at the
CTA Wilson train stop. Marie Ellen (Dawson) Kaess mentioned she had met her half
sister Wanda Lou Dawson (1932-2006) as a little girl in the 1950's. She had a
half-Nephew named Kenneth Dawson (b. abt 1949 in USA). Marie E (Dawson) Kaess
took comfort in meeting her children and grandchildren when she was older. The
twins and their mom reconciled in her later years. They would visit her in 
the Nursing home. Marie E Kaess cause of death was a massive heart attack. After
her death, her body was donated to science. Brian Kaess’Mother

Additional Comments:
Marie Ellen Dawson Kaess was a hippie in her 20's. She liked to reminiscent
about her husband Gerd while smoking cigarettes. The family went through periods
of starvation in the early 1970's. This was after Gerd's death. Marie Kaess
struggled economically most of her life and Chicago must have been a harsh
environment for her after she lost custody of her kids. She almost became
homeless, but luckily she made it to the nursing home and had a place for her to
see her children and grandchildren when they would come to visit. 

Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/cook/photos/bios/kaess1829gbs.jpg

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/cook/bios/kaess1829gbs.txt

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