George Roeper – Page 2 – The Roeper School

Photo Gallery of People

George was born in Germany in 1910 but spent the first years of his life living in Kobe, Japan, because of his father's steel brokering business. The family left Japan in 1914 when Japan declared war on Germany.

Annemarie was born in Vienna in 1918 where her mother, Gertrud Bondy, was a medical student and studying with Sigmund Freud. Her father was serving with the German Army in WWI at the time.

George at Marienau, where camping was a frequent activity.

George and Annemarie on the beach in Atlantic City, May 1940. Annemarie arrived in the US with her family on April 6, 1939. She and George were married at New York City Hall on April 20, 1939.

A family portrait at Windsor Mountain School, Lenox, MA in the 1940s. From left: George Roeper, Annemarie Bondy Roeper, Gertrud Bondy, Max Bondy, Heinz Bondy, Ursula "Ulla" Bondy, Curt Bondy (Max's brother).

An early photo of George and Annemarie in George's second floor Hill House office soon after purchasing the campus in 1946. At the time, Annemarie was 28 and George was 36.

Annemarie was Director of the Nursery program, shown here in one of the Hill House classrooms in the 1960s.

The school instituted its own bus fleet when it moved to Bloomfield Hills to ensure that families from Detroit, where the school had been previously, could get there easily.

The school commissioned portraits in December 1951 for its expanding promotional campaigns.

George and Annemarie in the Domes at the opening assembly in September 1969. The photo was taken by Bob Benyas, a parent and professional photographer who documented the early years of the school.

George and Annemarie were photographed in their home in Oakland in 1991. These were the last photos before their house was destroyed in the Oakland Fire in October 1991 and before George died on August 24, 1992. The photographer was Carolyn Caddes.

A photo of Annemarie in her home in Oakland, California, just months before the home was destroyed by the Oakland Fire in October 1991. Photo by Carolyn Caddes.

The Origins of The Roeper School

From Europe to Michigan, an educational philosophy finds a new home

Original Publication Date: Fall 2016

During the celebration of the 75th anniversary of The Roeper School in 2016-17, School Historian Marcia Ruff wrote histories of several aspects of the school. In this article, she traced George and Annemarie’s path from their upbringing in the progressive boarding school in Germany founded by Annemarie’s parents, Max and Gertrud Bondy, through their flight from the Nazis and the evolution of The Roeper School in Michigan.

Citation: Ruff, M. (2016). “The Origins of The Roeper School,” The Roeper School Archives, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Why Roeper Became a School for Gifted Children

The national interest in gifted children piqued the interest of the Roepers

Original Publication Date: Winter 2017

The Cold War rivalry of the 1950s triggered a national interest in identifying gifted children in order to ensure their skills could help advance American interests. George and Annemarie recognized that gifted children could play an important role in improving society. They were concerned that there was little research about the emotional needs of gifted children and that without that knowledge, the new attention might derail the children’s optimal development. They decided to dedicate their school to gifted child education so they could develop the best method for educating gifted children as whole individuals, as had been their focus with all children, and share their findings with the larger educational community.

Citation: Ruff, M. (2017) “The Beginning of a New Educational System,” The Roeper School Archives, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

A History for the Yearbook

The school published yearbooks in 1953 and 1954. The tradition resumed in 1965 after the school instituted a high school and the students began publishing yearbooks. For the 1954 yearbook, George wrote a brief history of the earliest days of the school.

Lecture 1: The History As Told by Annemarie

To begin a lecture series, Annemarie recounted the history of the school

Original Publication Date: October 10, 1995

For many years, Annemarie would visit the school in October from her home in Oakland, California, taking advantage of the season that was her favorite Michigan season. She would meet with students, faculty, and administrators, catching up on the school and providing advice. During her 1995 visit, she delivered a series of four lectures on gifted child development. The lectures were recorded and we have video and transcripts of the sessions. This is the first lecture, a history of the school, and the second, third, and fourth lectures are also on this website.

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