Stephen Bass

Stephen Bass, age 95, of Kennett Square, PA, passed away on June 29, 2019.

Born in Koszeg, Hungary in 1923, his parents were the late Rudolph and Irene (Deutch) Bass. Shortly after graduation from a Benedictine Gymnasium, he was forced into a labor camp ran by the Hungarian Army. Later, transferred to the Germans and ended up in the Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. The U.S. Army liberated him the last day, May 7, 1945, of the European War. After recovering from typhoid, he came back to Hungary to find his parents perished in Auschwitz.

After working a few years in a textile factory, he enrolled in the Technical University of Budapest, graduating as a Chemical Engineer and worked in the Coastal Textile Research Laboratory in Budapest. He escaped from Hungary during the uprising in the fall of 1956 to Austria and was lucky to land later that year in Camp Kilmer, NJ. He settled in Wilmington, DE, where his aunt lived. Not knowing English, he worked as a machine operator/technician in the plastics field. After many evening classes and help from volunteers, he worked at the Chestnut Run Textile Research and Development Laboratory of DuPont until his retirement in 1985.

He was married to Bohuslawa Zabko-Potapovich in 1970. They lived in Wilmington until 2003, when they moved to Crosslands Retirement Community. He worked as a volunteer at Hagley Museum in his retirement. Bohuslawa passed away in January 2017. No near family survivors, only a sister-in-law in New York.

Funeral services will be held on Monday July 8, 2019 at 2:00PM at Chandler Funeral Home, 2506 Concord Pike. Visitation will start at 1:00PM. Interment Lawn Croft Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Kendal-Crosslands Communities, P. O. Box 100, Kennett Square, PA 19348 or the favorite charity of the donor.