Alice. or Jean. Making things better, as she always did.
Note from David and Tom: Thank you for the love and support – we deeply appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We’ll be adding more pictures and video to this page in coming days. We would love it if you would leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
Alice Kamerer of Sarasota died August 9 from complications due to a stroke. She was 85. Services are pending.
Alice Jean Kamerer was born in Rock Island, Illinois in 1925. Her father was a Norwegian immigrant and her mother was from Scotland. She grew up in a blended family, a noisy, happy home filled with older brothers who doted on her, the youngest of six siblings.
She was a 1944 graduate of Rock Island High School. On Feb. 14, 1942, the sophomore girl had her first date with senior Herbert Kamerer, who would court her throughout high school and during his World War II Army service. After the war they were married, and spent 58 years building a life together.
She was instrumental in the success of the family accounting business in Galesburg, Illinois, which grew into Kamerer, Blucker & Kneer. Herb, who earned his MBA degree and his CPA certificate, led the accounting team while she ran the office. The firm’s clients included small businesses, farms, municipalities, school districts and medical practices.
In 1981 Herb and Alice sold the firm and moved to Sarasota, Florida, where they continued accounting work, but also found pleasure boating and fishing the Florida gulf coast.
Alice was happiest entertaining family and friends, and created many memorable meals whether camping, on their pontoon boat, or on her deck at Lake Bracken. She loved to sew and made her own greeting cards; her hands were never idle.
She was preceded in death by Herb, who died in 2004. She is survived by two sons, Tom, of Sarasota; and David, of Chicago; and two grandchildren, John and Anna.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Loyola University Chicago’s School of Communication, 820 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
Gifts may also be made online at LUC.edu/SOCGiving. Please indicate “in memory of Alice Kamerer” in the special instructions box.
contact David: david@davidkamerer.com
contact Tom: tomkamerer@gmail.com
My daughter Anna interviewed Alice about her life in the summer of 2009. Here’s the first clip. I’m working on getting more clips edited and online. In this clip she talks about growing up in Rock Island, IL, and meeting her future husband, Herb Kamerer:
Here she talks about her trips to Chicago with her brother and to see Herb: