This contains information on Josephine Riss Fang, better known as "Oma" to her grandchildren.
Paul Riss died last week, March 3, 2026 after a long illness. Here is the announcement.

April 26, 2024: On April 17, 2024, Simmons University gave a brunch to celebrate the Josephine Riss Fang Scholarship Fund. Below is a photograph taken at the brunch showing the Fang siblings with the Dean and President of Simmons.

Click here to see the program booklet.
Click here to see the slideshow presented at the brunch.
Click here to hear the speeches given at the brunch.
Finally, Click here to hear an interview of Josephine taken by the Belmont library.

January 30, 2023: Josephine Fang passed away early this morning, at the age of 100 yrs and 10 months. I have added several files about her life which you can access by clicking on the icons below.
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Here are some outside links that include various obituaries and articles on her:
funeral-home obituary
Simmons University In Memory of Josephine Fang
Simmons University Emerita Professor Josephine Fang Turns 100
Josephine Riss Fang: CALA's Oldest Continuous Member A Photo Montage of Her Life Stories (1library.net)

January 5, 2021: The daughter-in-law of Josephine Fang's 2nd cousin saw this web site and contacted me. She had a wealth of new information on Riss relatives. Before her contact, we knew Josephine's grandfather Johann Riss had at least one brother, as she had two 2nd cousins that she knew. But we were surprised to learn that Johann Riss had 12 siblings! Seven of them died young, but the other five all married and had a total of 16 children and at least 9 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. This added over 40 relatives, most with the spelling of "Rihs". I have updated the Riss family tree, shown below or from the "Trees" tab.

We had a virtual party for Josephine Fang's 98th birthday. Attendees came from California (2), Illinois (2), Florida, North Carolina, New York, and Massachusetts (13). Here is what it looked like:

Josephine Fang celebrated her 95th birthday with a dinner at the Wayside Inn on April 1, 2017. Here are some links about the party:
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Professional photographer's photos of 95th party
Peter's slide show at 95th party (12 minutes 48 seconds long)

The following two links are for her 90th birthday party - high tea at the Concord Colonial Inn - in 2012:
. Video of 90th party