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From THE GRAND ISLAND (NE.) INDEPENDENT, February 18, 1999-
When Grand Island resident Maxine Williams learned that her mother needed to have a leg amputated last fall, she wasn't sure if her mother would make it through the surgery.
Afterwards, when she found her mother sitting up in the hospital bed and smiling, Williams knew she would have to celebrate her mother's next birthday in a grand way.
After all, she was 99 years old.
Alma Kamper, a resident at Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center in Grand Island, will celebrate her 100th birthday today. Her family hosted an open house Sunday -- complete with 100 cakes -- in her honor.
"I told her, 'You're just plain tough,'" Williams said after her mother's surgery. It was then that Williams thought of baking 100 cakes in honor of her mother's achievement.
"She just smiled," Williams said.
In addition to the 100 cakes, some of which Williams decided would be cupcakes, the celebration included singing from family members and a five-generation picture.
Kamper was born on Feb. 18, 1899, north of Columbus in Platte County to John William and Johanna Amanda (Lueschen) Hake. She was one of 11 children and is one of only two still surviving. A younger sister, 90-year-old Hulda, lives in Chicago.
Williams said Kamper's parents were farmers during the "homestead years" and moved to Archer, northwest of Central City, when she was a teen-ager. She was raised in the Lutheran church and graduated from the eighth grade in 1913.
Her daughter, Grace Schutte, said Kamper oftentimes had to do field work on the farm and was very loyal to her parents.
"She stayed with her parents until she was 25," she said.
On June 3, 1924, she married neighborhood sweetheart George Kamper at her parents' home in Archer.
In those days, Williams said, entertainment included neighborhood parties, where families got together to play cards or dance. She said her mother never learned how to dance, though.
"She felt awkward," Williams said. "She was always shy."
In 1928, the couple moved into Palmer, and her husband bought a truck, which he used for hauling grain, livestock or whatever people needed. They later moved to Grand Island, and both Kamper and her husband worked at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant producing warheads for World War II. After the plant closed, the couple went to work at the Grand Island Air Force Base.
Williams, who was the oldest of Kamper's seven children, took care of her siblings at home while her parents worked.
"She was always a good example for the girls to follow," Williams said of her mother, "morally, spiritually and how to live in general."
"Mom was always a very loyal person," Schutte said. "We've always been a close family."
During their retirement years, the couple began traveling. They eventually settled in North Platte, where her husband worked part time and did odd jobs. The couple was honored on May 31, 1964, at a 40th wedding anniversary celebration.
Her husband died on July 9, 1968, and she continued to live in North Platte until 1982. Williams said Kamper spent much of her time baking and baby-sitting grandchildren, including Williams' 11 children.
"She loved children. She would just gaze at that child," Williams said.
For a time, she lived with Schutte and later with Williams before moving into the Grand Island Veterans Home in September 1989. In February 1998, she moved into the Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center, where a daughter with multiple sclerosis is a resident.
Today, the quiet and soft-spoken centenarian suffers from arthritis in her back and has lost hearing in her left ear. She also has congestive heart failure.
Even so, Kamper has outlived three of her seven children. She has 36 grandchildren, 74 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
Kamper is a past member of the Ruth Society and received the Gold Star Mother status for raising her youngest brother-in-law, who was killed during World War II. She is the oldest living Gold Star Mother in Nebraska.
Williams said her mother credits her longevity to the Fourth Commandment, which promises a long life to those who honor their father and mother. She also thought a healthy lifestyle without smoking or drinking might have helped.
Schutte added that her mother has always enjoyed being outdoors and also had an older sister who lived to be a centenarian.
"The Lord has just given her a long life," she said.
_________________________
From the following web site:
http://www.theindependent.com/Archive/052599/stories/052599/Rec_obits25.html
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Tuesday, May 25, 1999
Today's Obituaries
Local deaths
Alma Kamper
Alma W. Kamper, 100, of Grand Island died Friday, May 21, 1999, at Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Platte. The Revs. Marion Von Rentzell and Herbert B. Schutte will officiate. Burial will be in Floral Lawns Memorial Garden, North Platte.
Memorials are suggested to Lutheran World Relief.
Mrs. Kamper was born on Feb. 18, 1899, in Platte County to John W. and Amanda (Lueschen) Hake. In 1912, the family moved to a farm near Archer, where she lived until 1924.
She married George Kamper on June 3, 1924, and the couple lived on a farm northeast of St. Libory. They later moved to Palmer. In 1963, the Kampers moved to North Platte, where her husband died in 1968.
Mrs. Kamper continued to live in North Platte until 1989, when she moved to the Grand Island Veterans Home.
She was a Gold Star mother and enjoyed fishing and gardening.
Survivors include four daughters, Maxine Williams and Grace Schutte, both of Grand Island, Jeannine Shafer of North Platte and Phyllis Gates of Mesa, Ariz.; 36 grandchildren; 78 great-grandchildren; 19 great-great-grandchildren; and one sister, Hulda Kuppinger of Hammond, Ind.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, George M.; two daughters, Caroline F. Zwelling and Betty J. Morgan; five sisters and four brothers. [ColfaxDeutschlandPlatte.FBK.FTW]
From THE GRAND ISLAND (NE.) INDEPENDENT, February 18, 1999-
When Grand Island resident Maxine Williams learned that her mother needed to have a leg amputated last fall, she wasn't sure if her mother would make it through the surgery.
Afterwards, when she found her mother sitting up in the hospital bed and smiling, Williams knew she would have to celebrate her mother's next birthday in a grand way.
After all, she was 99 years old.
Alma Kamper, a resident at Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center in Grand Island, will celebrate her 100th birthday today. Her family hosted an open house Sunday -- complete with 100 cakes -- in her honor.
"I told her, 'You're just plain tough,'" Williams said after her mother's surgery. It was then that Williams thought of baking 100 cakes in honor of her mother's achievement.
"She just smiled," Williams said.
In addition to the 100 cakes, some of which Williams decided would be cupcakes, the celebration included singing from family members and a five-generation picture.
Kamper was born on Feb. 18, 1899, north of Columbus in Platte County to John William and Johanna Amanda (Lueschen) Hake. She was one of 11 children and is one of only two still surviving. A younger sister, 90-year-old Hulda, lives in Chicago.
Williams said Kamper's parents were farmers during the "homestead years" and moved to Archer, northwest of Central City, when she was a teen-ager. She was raised in the Lutheran church and graduated from the eighth grade in 1913.
Her daughter, Grace Schutte, said Kamper oftentimes had to do field work on the farm and was very loyal to her parents.
"She stayed with her parents until she was 25," she said.
On June 3, 1924, she married neighborhood sweetheart George Kamper at her parents' home in Archer.
In those days, Williams said, entertainment included neighborhood parties, where families got together to play cards or dance. She said her mother never learned how to dance, though.
"She felt awkward," Williams said. "She was always shy."
In 1928, the couple moved into Palmer, and her husband bought a truck, which he used for hauling grain, livestock or whatever people needed. They later moved to Grand Island, and both Kamper and her husband worked at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant producing warheads for World War II. After the plant closed, the couple went to work at the Grand Island Air Force Base.
Williams, who was the oldest of Kamper's seven children, took care of her siblings at home while her parents worked.
"She was always a good example for the girls to follow," Williams said of her mother, "morally, spiritually and how to live in general."
"Mom was always a very loyal person," Schutte said. "We've always been a close family."
During their retirement years, the couple began traveling. They eventually settled in North Platte, where her husband worked part time and did odd jobs. The couple was honored on May 31, 1964, at a 40th wedding anniversary celebration.
Her husband died on July 9, 1968, and she continued to live in North Platte until 1982. Williams said Kamper spent much of her time baking and baby-sitting grandchildren, including Williams' 11 children.
"She loved children. She would just gaze at that child," Williams said.
For a time, she lived with Schutte and later with Williams before moving into the Grand Island Veterans Home in September 1989. In February 1998, she moved into the Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center, where a daughter with multiple sclerosis is a resident.
Today, the quiet and soft-spoken centenarian suffers from arthritis in her back and has lost hearing in her left ear. She also has congestive heart failure.
Even so, Kamper has outlived three of her seven children. She has 36 grandchildren, 74 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
Kamper is a past member of the Ruth Society and received the Gold Star Mother status for raising her youngest brother-in-law, who was killed during World War II. She is the oldest living Gold Star Mother in Nebraska.
Williams said her mother credits her longevity to the Fourth Commandment, which promises a long life to those who honor their father and mother. She also thought a healthy lifestyle without smoking or drinking might have helped.
Schutte added that her mother has always enjoyed being outdoors and also had an older sister who lived to be a centenarian.
"The Lord has just given her a long life," she said.
_________________________
From the following web site:
http://www.theindependent.com/Archive/052599/stories/052599/Rec_obits25.html
---------------------------------------
Tuesday, May 25, 1999
Today's Obituaries
Local deaths
Alma Kamper
Alma W. Kamper, 100, of Grand Island died Friday, May 21, 1999, at Lakeview Rehab/Nursing Center.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Platte. The Revs. Marion Von Rentzell and Herbert B. Schutte will officiate. Burial will be in Floral Lawns Memorial Garden, North Platte.
Memorials are suggested to Lutheran World Relief.
Mrs. Kamper was born on Feb. 18, 1899, in Platte County to John W. and Amanda (Lueschen) Hake. In 1912, the family moved to a farm near Archer, where she lived until 1924.
She married George Kamper on June 3, 1924, and the couple lived on a farm northeast of St. Libory. They later moved to Palmer. In 1963, the Kampers moved to North Platte, where her husband died in 1968.
Mrs. Kamper continued to live in North Platte until 1989, when she moved to the Grand Island Veterans Home.
She was a Gold Star mother and enjoyed fishing and gardening.
Survivors include four daughters, Maxine Williams and Grace Schutte, both of Grand Island, Jeannine Shafer of North Platte and Phyllis Gates of Mesa, Ariz.; 36 grandchildren; 78 great-grandchildren; 19 great-great-grandchildren; and one sister, Hulda Kuppinger of Hammond, Ind.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, George M.; two daughters, Caroline F. Zwelling and Betty J. Morgan; five sisters and four brothers.
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