Sommerer Family Website

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aunt bea

Aunt Bea is with Jesus now.

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Aunt Bea went to be with her savior this morning around 3:30am. We will all miss her so much.

The visitation and the funeral will be this Saturday, July 18th at Faith Lutheran Church in Jefferson City (2027 Industrial Drive). Visitation will be from 12-1pm and the service will follow from 1-2pm. Burial will be at Riverview Cemetery on West Main Street and afterwards there will be refreshments aback at the church.

The family suggests that memorials be given to Calvary Lutheran School in Jefferson City. That’s the still in my mind new high school where a fair number of our cousins have attended.

You can read Aunt Bea’s obituary here. There are also maps to the Church and Cemetery. Aunt Bea was 90 years old this year.

Aunt Bea’s Surgery

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Meredith texted me today and said that her grandma, Bea Putnam, is undergoing colon cancer surgery this morning. Actually, the surgery is probably over by now; it started at 7:30.

Please keep Aunt Bea in your prayers. She will be inpatient for 3-5 days at Boone County Hospital, during which time she will also be impatient. Then rehab starts.

Update:
They couldn’t remove the cancer, but she still had a procedure today and will remain in the hospital. The next step will be a consultation with her oncologist.

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 2)

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My earliest memory of my mother, Teresa, was how every child had a job. Marjorie was responsible for looking after me. Marjorie also made clothes such as dresses or shirts for Cleopha. My favorite memory to share about my mother is one time we were playing a game of hide and go seek after supper. Beatrice decided to stand on a five-gallon bucket in a dress, which hung all the way down to the floor to wash dishes. No one could find Beatrice, but Teresa was in on the joke the whole time standing outside in the cold. However, the real joke was on Beatrice because she ended up washing and drying all of the dishes!

My earliest memory of my father, Adolph was there is not much to tell about him. When father hollered at you, you got up and when he was tired, he would go to bed. This memory of his father led to another about how life was as a child…

Aunt Naomi’s Story (Part 33)

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Bea taught me to tell time when I was small.  I remember her setting with me for hours trying to get it through my head.  She was patient!  On the big rocks on the road to Route H, she was waiting for a ride, and I was waiting with her. She had a fork and combed my hair with a fork. Such imagination!

When I was about 6 or so Cleo went to Jeff City to live with Cousin Freida.  She went to school there for a while and then came back home and went to Eugene.  It was kind of dull without her at home. I remember one evening Cleo had been babysitting in Jefferson City and the family drove her home.  It had rained and the road was muddy.  The family’s vehicle got stuck and daddy had to pull him out with the tractor.  It was good that we had a tractor.  Many years before we relied on old Bert, Sally and Black Beauty! My love of singing came from singing with my sisters.  I will always remember how proud I was when I first “heard” the harmony singing “Long, Long Ago.”  We always sang no matter what we were doing, washing dishes, sweeping, hoeing in the garden…. etc.  Cleo was always very resourceful and could get things done. I’ll never forget the mental picture of her grabbing the frying pan that was on fire and throwing it out the door so the house wouldn’t catch fire. She was very generous and thanks to her, Lolly and I had nice clothes to wear, both new and hand-me-downs. Hand-me-downs were like new to us.  She gave us new clothes for Christmas, too.  One year she gave Lolly and I each a beautiful store-bought skirt and sweater. We were so happy!  But old or new, we were always glad to have anything!

I barely remember the siblings from Vernon on up, because they were gone from home when I was very young.  It was always a celebration when they came home.  For sure it was always, make homemade ice cream, have a wiener roast in the barn yard and corn on the cob.  Mother would always make their favorite desserts!

Aunt Lolly’s Story (part 6)

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Beatrice was always singing and dancing around the kitchen. She liked to imitate Betty Hutton. I was eight_years old and I was walking through the kitchen when all of a sudden a big ole foot landed on top of my head. She was as surprised as I was.

Mother would have a song or poem for every occasion, idea, or word spoken. She was amazing. She taught us to sing. Cleo and I spent many, many, many hours at the sink washing and drying dishes. Cleo liked classical music. There was a program on the radio with that kind of music. I would get so mad at her for having to listen to it. She was always singing. If she sang a song I liked, I would sing with her. If I didn’t like it or if I was mad at her, I would sing off-key just to aggravate her. I discovered that I could make my singing off-key sound pretty, and I tried harder to make it sound good. That was how we began singing in harmony. Cleo sang soprano. I sang alto and when Naomi got older, she sang alto and I sang tenor. We sounded pretty good together. The Johnnie Boys were a country music group that played for our 4-H dances. They also had a radio show every morning on KWOS. We sang with them at one of our 4-H dances, and they invited us to sing with them on the radio. Mother and Daddy took us to Jeff City to the KWOS studios. It was fun.