Jettchen (Jetti) Oberbrunner was born in Steinach on April 9, 1896 as the daughter of the merchant Bernhard Frei and his wife Rosa, née Löwenberger. The Frei family who came from Eichenhausen near Bad Neustadt had been living in Steinach at least since the middle of the 18^th century and had been butchers for generations. Jettchen had six more siblings who were also born in Steinach. 

After the death of her husband in June 1912, Jettchen’s mother moved to Bad Kissingen with some of her children. Whether Jetti, then 16 years old, was among them and how long she probably lived there couldn’t be found out with the help of the registration files. 

Jettchen married the merchant Max Oberbrunner from Trappstadt and lived in Munich with him, where in December 1924 their son Bernhard was born. The Oberbrunner family succeeded in escaping to the United States in time. In July 1937, they left Munich and emigrated to New York on board the “Washington”.

Jettchen’s husband Max Oberbrunner died in New York in June 1973 at the age of 78. Jettchen died in Queens, New York at the age of 88.