Dorothea C. Hain

Dorothea Christa Hain, age 92, returned to her Heavenly Father on September 13, 2026.

Dorothea was born in 1934 in eastern Germany. Her mother passed away when she was only four years old.

A year later, World War II began, and Dorothea engaged in her own fight against hunger, picking through garbage scraps, eating wild berries and going door to door with her siblings begging for food.

After the war had ended, Dorothea’s home city was designated part of East Germany.

As a young teenager, she helped raise her younger siblings. Throughout this time, she attended school and developed a love for music, teaching herself how to play the harmonica and accordion.

When Dorothea was 16, her father became very sick from working in the mines. Dorothea alternated between caring for her younger siblings, visiting her father in the hospital, and attending school.

She heeded his dying wish of continuing her education. She graduated trade school as a certified machine builder, the only girl among 160 boys, and the top of her class.

As a single mother in her early twenties, she knew she wanted a better life for herself and her daughter. With nothing but a diaper bag, her knowledge, and immense courage, she bravely escaped with her baby from the communist East into West Germany.

Shortly thereafter, Dorothea met her husband and continued to grow her family. She immigrated to the United States via a week-long journey on a steamship - with a toddler and baby in tow, pregnant, and seasick.

Throughout her life, she fondly remembered the moment she saw the Statue of Liberty rising out of the water, her first view of the United States.

Dorothea taught herself English by reading newspapers and listening to songs. Unable to get a job as a machine builder in the male-dominated manufacturing industry, she began working as a quality control inspector and rose to a supervisory position.

In her late thirties, she took up swimming to help recover from a broken leg. She accepted a dare and swam one and a half miles across a lake, all while keeping the hair on the top of her head dry.

After Dorothea became an American citizen, she often proudly spoke about being American and the freedom she had in the United States.

Dorothea found joy in the little things. She enjoyed listening to music, especially Tom Jones, Andre Rieu and classic German songs. She played harmonica and accordion and loved to play and sing along to music at family gatherings. She enjoyed dancing, painting, cooking, crocheting, knitting, and gardening. She had a green thumb and always had a flourishing garden outside and many houseplants. She loved her family and often greeted them with a smile and a hug.

Dorothea now reunites with those who preceded her in death, including her parents, Luise and Willy, siblings, Helmut, Christa, and Eberhard, and daughter, Marion DiLorenzo.

Her beloved surviving family includes her children, Thomas (Diane) Jurgens, Linda (John) Walker, Patricia (Greg) Martucci, and Heidi (Tom) Verbiscer, grandchildren, Mario (Tina) DiLorenzo, Paul (Caitlin) Jurgens, Stephan (Kelsey) Jurgens, Nick (Mallory) Jurgens, Jason (Liz) Walker, Kristy Shibli, Michael Newell, Katarina (Cristhian) Suriel Martucci, and Matthew Verbiscer, 14 great-grandchildren and aunt (Tante) to many.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Walter Church, 130 W Pine Ave, Roselle, IL on Friday, October 9th, at 10 am. with a visitation beforehand starting at 9:30 am. Interment will take place directly following the Mass at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside.

In honor of Dorothea's love for music, memorials to the St. Walter Music Ministry would be appreciated.