When Erna Prager created her Associated legacy plan with two charitable remainder trusts 30 years ago, she was thinking about the future and about giving back to the community that had become home to her family.

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, Erna was the only child of affluent parents; her father worked in bedding manufacturing. The family fled Nazi Germany in 1933, moving to several European countries throughout Europe, but never finding a safe refuge. Only after everyone in the family was able to obtain visas, Erna immigrated to Baltimore in 1939 with her parents, husband, and seven-year-old son, Lutz.

In 1940, Erna’s father and husband opened a bedding manufacturing business, Paradise Pillow, along with a retail store, Baltimore Furniture. The entire family worked in the business until it was sold 45 years later.