|
By Bill Archer
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Rose Kammer left her home in Bluefield
after she earned an associate’s degree from Bluefield College
in May of 1941, but the life-lessons she received during the first 20 years of
her left, guided her into a lifetime of service to her fellow man.
Kammer’s commitment to serving others was recognized last week when the
Bluegrass Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals included
Kammer among a group of individuals and corporations recognized during the
AFP’s 22nd Annual “National Philanthropy Day” ceremony held Nov. 18, at the
Hyatt Regency in Lexington, Ky. Kammer is the daughter of Harry and Helen
Josephine Kammer, and sister of well-known Bluefield businessman, Max Kammer.
“Back in September, they told me they wanted to recognize me with this award,”
Kammer, 87, said. “They made a collage of me from when I was with the Red Cross
and of other things I have been active in, but I didn’t see it until the
ceremony on Tuesday. I had volunteered more than 21,000 hours of service at the
Markey Cancer Center
of the University of Kentucky Medical Center. They do have an excellent cancer
center.”
The Markey Cancer Foundation characterized Kammer as the center’s “guardian
angel,” but Kammer said she gains great pleasure from helping new patients
understand something about the center as well as the excellent physicians who
practice there. “I see the expressions on their faces when I tell them about
the center,” she said. “It may be their first time in a cancer center like
that, but when they understand something personal about the training or
accomplishments of their physicians, it seems to help them.”
Kammer has been helping others through her entire life. As she grew up in a
home on Union Street
in Bluefield,
she watched as her father and mother devoted time to their family business —
Kammer Furniture — as well as to their community through civic organizations of
all kinds. As a very young girl, she helped out by sweeping up at the family
store, and even made her own sign, “Rose Kammer-Vice President,” when she was
at work. Although she hasn’t lived in Bluefield
since her younger years, she still retains the title of “secretary,” of Kammer
Furniture.
“My Aunt Rose is an exceptional person who, as a woman, accomplished many
things at a time when there weren’t many women in jobs where they carried a
briefcase to work with them,” her nephew, Harry Kammer said. Harry is vice
president of the company, but he said he doesn’t mind sharing the title with
his aunt. “She is an exceptional person,” he said.
“I think some of my teachers here at Bluefield
made a big difference for me,” Rose Kammer said. “Jean Brown, one of my
teachers at Beaver
High School, taught
civics back in a time when they taught civics in high school. In civics class,
you learn about service to your community, service to mankind and giving back
to your community. I learned that in school, and it was reinforced in our home.
Our parents were very giving of themselves to our community.”
Kammer graduated from Beaver High School in 1939, and enrolled at Bluefield College. When she graduated in 1941, she
enrolled at the University
of North Carolina. “Back
in those days, women couldn’t enroll at UNC straight out of high school,” she
said. “Most went to a two-year women’s college in Greenville, and transferred to UNC for their
last two years. I went to Bluefield
College for my first two
years.”
Kammer graduated in 1943 during a time of war. She wanted to do her part, and a
few months after she earned her degree in social work, she entered the American
Red Cross in 1944. During the war years, Kammer was stationed at various
military hospitals on the East Coast where she worked with wounded soldiers,
airmen, sailors and Marines until they recovered enough to be discharged to a
hospital nearer to their homes and families. During her time with the Red Cross
in the U.S., Kammer earned a
master’s degree in social work from Boston
University.
She remained with the Red Cross after the war, and was eventually sent to Europe to help in the recovery process. In 1953, she was
appointed to head-up the Red Cross operations at the 500-bed 16th Infantry
Field Hospital in Nuremberg,
Germany. “The
Red Cross is a quasi-governmental agency,” she said. “I was billeted over there
as though I held the rank of major, but I wasn’t commissioned in the Army.” She
teased that her brother Max, who was a major at the end of the war and rose to
the rank of colonel with the U.S. Army Reserves, was only a “Light Colonel,”
while she became a full colonel when she became a Kentucky Colonel later in
life.
Kammer’s career path took a slight detour after her father suffered a stroke in
1954, and she returned home to help. “There were no speech therapists around
here,” she said. Seeing that need ultimately helped her decided to seek her
second graduate degree — a master’s in speech therapy from the University of
Kentucky — “an amazing accomplishment for a woman of her time,” the Markey
Cancer Foundation said in a press release concerning Kammer’s award.
“My mother would tell you that all that education didn’t do Max and I much
good,” Rose Kammer said. “We were out playing golf at Bluefield Country Club
one day when it was raining, and we kept playing in the rain until we finished
our round.”
Kammer left the Red Cross in 1958 and in 1961, accepted a position as dean of
women students and resident director of the women’s dormitory at the American
International College in Springfield, Mass. Five years later, she began working
for the United Cerebral Palsy of the Bluegrass through the Child Development
Center as a social worker and speech therapist, and eventually became director.
“I worked with some severely aphasic patients at the Child Development
Center,” she said. “I had
youngsters that needed to learn language.” She said that one of her students —
Verda Tudor — had little to no speaking ability, but she made rapid progress
after five years of therapy. She said the young girl went on to become an opera
singer in New York.
She retired from the center in 1982, and started volunteering at the Markey Cancer
Center in 1986.
Kammer has traveled extensively and continues to enjoy golf and other
activities. As a member of the Lexington Host Committee, she has met some of
the world’s greatest golfers as well as many celebrities. She is also proud
that her name is included as a charter member of the Women’s War Memorial in
Washington, D.C. “They allowed the Red Cross to be part of that,” she said.
Kammer returns home to Bluefield
regularly to visit with family and friends, and often returns home during the
week of Thanksgiving. This year, she brought an incredible award that
recognized a life of service along with her.
http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_327193954.html
|
