Johanna was born Johanna Elizabeth Braun in Heidelberg, Germany on September 25, 1921. Johanna and her brother Ernest carne to the United States in 1928 with their mother Margaret. Her father had already immigrated to the U.S. and established himself at the Concord Club (which was narned after the ship Concord, the first German ship to cross the Atlantic) in Mount Clemens as a general manager.
Although Johanna could not read or write the English language when she arrived, she loved attending Grant School and won the English spelling contest in the fifth grade. She graduated in 1940 and was eligible to advance her education. Johanna states that Mount Clemens had an excellent school system, which helped her progress so quickly. She enrolled in the Business Institute in Detroit, and after months of business training, johanna qualified for a job in the County Clerk’s office in Macomb County, where she worked for eight years.
johanna married Jack Roskopp, a young man she graduated with frorn Mount Clemens High School, on September 9, 1944. jack continued to go to law school and work. During this time, they lived with johanna’s mother. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ann, was born in 1950 and son john was born in 1957. Johanna also has three grandchildren, Krista, Jack and jordan, a great grandchild Joshua and a second great grandchild on the way. jack, also known as judge Roskopp, was a member of The Old Crowd and has a parking lot named in his honor in Mount Clemens.
johanna believes the County Clerk’s office was a great place to meet people and learn to enjoy the American way of life. She became involved in many organizations, which include Clinton River Watershed Council, where she is still an active member and works diligently to clean up and preserve the Clinton River. The council presents an annual award to a community individual or corporation in her honor. Other organizations that needed “a little of her help” are: The Art Center, League of Wornen Voters, The Community Concert Cornrnittee, and as a board member for the Mount Clemens High School Alumni Association.
