Mathilde Albers, a German-born Jew who escaped her homeland days before the start of World War II and built a prosperous life in the Bay Area that included philanthropy and service to Jewish organizations, has died. She was 99.
Though she avoided the spotlight, Albers became one of the region’s most dedicated Jewish philanthropists, especially when it came to support for Israel. She sat on the boards of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, AIPAC and Israel Bonds, gave large donations to the Weizmann Institute and Ben-Gurion University and belonged to the UJA-Federation’s Prime Minister’s Council, a group of American philanthropists who donated $100,000 or more to Israel.
In May, the Jewish Federation of the East Bay honored the Oakland resident at its Israel Out Loud gala. She served as the Federation’s honorary president at the time of her death.
A native of Westphalia, Germany, Albers was a medical student in Cologne when she and her husband, Henry, fled to England days before Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939. Once they received visas, they sailed for the United States, a 16-week journey that took them via Iceland and Greenland and through the Panama Canal.
After arriving in California, the couple built a successful hospital equipment supply company in Oakland. Her husband died in the early 1970s, but Albers never stopped working, even after selling the business in 1976. From then on, she devoted herself to charity work and philanthropy.
Albers is survived by a son, Dennis Albers of Piedmont, and two grandchildren.