Vera Hazemann

Vera Mart Kemmerer Hazemann passed away on Friday afternoon, January 26, 2007. Her good nature and interest in life made her a Joy to be with and she will be sorely missed by her family and all who knew her. Vera was born to Elsie Gertrude and Pearl Andrew Mart on June 8, 1913 at Marion, North Dakota, the fourth of eleven children. She was only six months old when the family moved to Miles City, Montana where her father was a meat cutter for Armors and Sawyers Grocery. While she was still small, her mother took up a homestead some 15 miles out of Jordan, Montana and for five years her mother and the children would move to the homestead during the summer months to prove it up while Vera's father stayed in Miles City to work. When Vera was 13, the whole family moved out to farm the homestead. Times were difficult for them, as it was for most of their neighbors the land and the weather didn't cooperate and her two older brothers went to work for other ranches, leaving Vera and her younger brother to do all the riding that was necessary and to help haul their water from the nearest spring, three miles away. But there were good times too. She remembered the country dances that she rode horseback to, wearing jeans under her skirt until she got there. The dances would last until sun-up as daylight was needed to be able to find their way home. When she was seventeen, she married Lester Alton Kemmerer and set up housekeeping in a cottonwood log home. The terrible drought continued and nothing grew and there was no grass for the livestock, so they moved to Minnesota to work on a large dairy Lester's half- sister owned. It was there that their first son, Ray Alton, was born in 1932. By 1933 they were back in Jordan where their second son, Charles Gail, was born. The Fort Peck Dam was being built at that time so she and Lester and their little ones moved north so that Lester could work on its construction and help run a pie shop. By 1936 the cam would be completed and Lester and Vera and their family headed west where they settled in Thompson Falls. It was there that they built the family home and their third son, Gary Mart was born in 1938. Along with raising her family, Vera was the city librarian in Thompson Falls and continued in that position even after Lester passed away. Vera was an avid reader and tried to read every new book that came into the library, so that she could help people pick appropriate books to check out. When she retired in 1972 she had worked at the library for thirty years. It was that year that she married Clifford Victor Hazemann and they made their home just out of West Fargo, North Dakota. When Clifford passed away in 1995 she moved to Helena to be near her son, Charles Kemmerer and his family. Vera is survived by three sisters, Lucille Cole of Salem, Oregon, Montana Patrick of Mountlake Terrace, Washington, and Velma Harbaugh of Jordan, Montana. And a brother, Pearl Mart of Columbus, Montana. One son, Charles Kemmerer of Helena. And six grandsons, Gilbert Kemmerer and Brian Kemmerer, both of Pocatello, Idaho. Craig Kemmerer of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Kim Kemmerer and Kern Kemmerer of Helena. And Kevin Kemmerer of Melvern, Pennsylvania. And nine great-grand-children. Funeral services were held at the Masonic Home, in Helena on January 30, 2007. Family prefers memorials to that of donor’s choice. Graveside Service will be held on Friday, February 2, 2007 at 2:00 PM at Zion Cemetery, Colfax, ND.