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by Lola (Kammer) Zimmerman Bessie Kammer  Bessie was the oldest in the family. She was 19 when I was born, and was married when she was 20, so I remember her like being a second mother to me.She would spend the summer on the farm with us and her three little ones: Anita, who we called "Tiny", Jean, who we called "Sis", and Marie. Later when she lived in Wagon Mound, New Mexico, we would visit her. I remember her doing her house work in high heel shoes, which must have been very uncomfortable. Also, I remember her making tamales with real Cornshucks. After her divorce, she moved to California, and I went to live with her and to find work. We had a very small apartment, and not much money, but we had a lot of fun. She was fun to be with. I was still living with her when I met and married Bill. Later she married Otis Warmath. After Bill and I moved to Oregon, we often came back to California to visit with her and Otis. It was like going home as she seemed very much like a mother to me. I miss her very much. Fern Kammer  Fern was in her teens when I was born, so I do not remember her too well when I was young.I do remember one day when George, Ruby and Fern made Margaret and I go outside to play and told us not to come inside because the devil was coming to devil some eggs! After Fern and Stanley were married, they would come out to the farm every Sunday for dinner, and would sit around and play cards. Fern was a very good housekeeper. In fact, she was so good that you might mess up her house just by walking in! I always thought she was rich, because she had dimes in the corners of the pictures on her walls. She was always especially good to me and I remember her with lots of love. Fern, I love you -- your baby sister, Lola. Ruby Kammer  Ruby was the third girl in the family. She was always a little bit different than the others -- very outgoing, and a lot of fun.She married Warren Johnson when she was quite young. He was an alcoholic, and they moved around quite often. They had two daughters, Peggy and Carol. She lost four boys. Ruby and I were very close. We could almost know what the other was thinking. She divorced Warren and married Floyd Blakemore. He was so good to her and they were very happy. They would come to visit us about once a year and we had a lot of fun together. I missed her so much when she died. Ruby, I love you. George Kammer  George was the only boy in the family. I don't remember much about him when he was young. I know he didn't like farm work.He married Dolly Zavaril and they had two boys, Ed and Larry, and a girl, Mary. They lived in Gold Beach, Oregon. George died when he was in his late 50's and his ashes are scattered over the ocean at Gold Beach. Margaret Kammer  Margaret was just three years older than me. We were pretty close when we were young.She married Bill Martens after she graduated. They had a son, Billy, and daughter, Barbara. They didn't live close to us, so I didn't see her often. Bill Martens died in an airplane crash in 1968. Margaret stayed in the same home in Fort Worth, Texas. I visited her a couple of times, and it was as though we had never been apart. She died in 1989, and now I am the only one left. |
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