Emma Plass, 95, formerly of Itasca, who worked for a local bank for 46 years, died Monday, Feb. 18, in her home in Peoria, Ariz., of congestive heart failure. Mrs. Plass was born and raised in Itasca. She attended Luther Institute in Chicago, commuting by train and streetcar to complete her education, said her daughter, Dorothy Wodrich. In 1925, Mrs. Plass went to work for the Itasca State Bank. In 1930, Lester Gillis, better known as the notorious mobster “Baby Face” Nelson, robbed the bank when only Mrs. Plass and her boss were at the bank, her daughter said. They were forced to open the vault, then lie down on the floor while the famous robber made his getaway. “She was interviewed for [the A&E cable network’s] `Biography’ show a couple years ago to talk about it,” Wodrich said. When the bank moved to Bensenville and became the Bensenville State Bank, Mrs. Plass went too, eventually working her way up to assistant cashier. Even though she worked full time until her retirement in 1971, Mrs. Plass was involved with the Lutheran Church of St. Luke, where she was, at different times, president, treasurer and secretary of the church’s Lutheran Women’s Mission League. She was also a former member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Organization. In 1974, Mrs. Plass and her late husband, George, moved to Arizona. In addition to her daughter, she is survived by two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. funeral services Tuesday in Lutheran Church of St. Luke, 404 Rush St., Itasca.
