This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Semrau, VanBlarcom, Hunter Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/QFB.2ACE/1604 Message Board Post: Jessie Ruth Semrau, age 97, of Nashville, passed away January 13, 2000 at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Bud and Dorothy Semrau of Alexandria, Virginia. She was born November 7, 1902 in Sunfield, the daughter of Ernest and Edith (VanBlarcom) Hunter. Ruth married Henry (Hank) W. Semrau June 27, 1925, and he preceded her in death on November 16, 1980. Hank and Ruth's first-born son, Jack, passed away as the result of an accident on Route M-66 near the family farm on October 29, 1938. Following attendance at Western Michigan Normal College and marriage, Ruth and Hank commenced a life-long love of farming on the Hunter homestead south of Sunfield. In the early thirties, they moved to their farm north of Nashville where they resided during the majority of their marriage of 55 years. Ruth taught school for eleven years in several area multigrade country schools. Several of those teaching years occurred during the depression. While at the old Hosmer School north o! f Nashville, her monthly salary was $28.00 a month. She was also allocated an additional $5.00 a month to hire a janitor for the school. In addition to farming, her husband, Hank, was employed on the security force at Hastings Manufacturing Company for some 26 years. She was active in the Nashville community. Ruth organized and letd 4-H clubs; was an active member in the Nashville Garden Club; and supported and participated in school events in Nashville. Her love of gardening and then canning, freezing and giving away the results was widely known and enjoyed by her neighbors and relatives. During the later years of Ruth and Hank's marriage, they enjoyed the winter months in Florida. She was also preceded in death by her two brothers, Harold and Merrill Hunter. Mrs. Semrau is survived by her sister, Esther, of Ionia; two sons, Bud (Dorothy) Semrau of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bill (Patsy) Semrau of Nashville; five grandchildren; and nine great grandchildren. Funeral! Services were held on January 17, 2000 at the Maple Valley Funeral Ho me. Interment took place in the Sunfield Cemetery. Her family and friends will dearly miss her. (The Hastings "Reminder" - Tuesday, January 18, 2000) Transcriber has no family connection.