Jeune Ethel Kirmser

Jeune B. Kirmser was born on January 28, 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota to John G. Blomquist, a self-taught musician and artist who came to America from Sweden at the age of 5, and Ethel Strayer Blomquist, a graduate in mathematics from Hamline University. It was these open-minded, imaginative people who encouraged Jeune to grow into the remarkable woman she was. She adored her parents and her older brother John. Jeune graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in English education. Her first job was in a tiny town in Northwest Minnesota where she was informed that she was also going to be the girls' basketball coach! Later she got her Master's Degree in School Social Work. Jeune was married to Philip G. Kirmser in St. Paul on June 12, 1942 and shortly thereafter moved to Manhattan where Phil taught at K-State and Jeune received her Master's in English from K-State. Not long afterwards he joined the Navy and she practiced social work and taught English in a very poor area of Washington, DC while he was away. In 1951 she spent a year in Amsterdam (due to Phil's sabbatical) writing scripts for Dutch Radio about what it was like being an American woman in Holland. Upon their return, she became a school social worker for the St. Paul, MN public schools where she spied the young boy who would soon (in 1955) become their son and who would bring along his little sister to be their daughter. She moved to Manhattan in 1954 when Phil was hired again by Kansas State College and there she remained for the rest of her life with several forays to London for months at a time. On one of those trips she inadvertently became a passenger on the Maiden Flight of the Concorde from London to the States. With two little children now, Jeune chose to be a stay-at-home mom, but that did not curtail her activities in trying to improve the human condition. She became the 'public' for the Manhattan-Odgen Board of Education, maintaining this role for 53 years. She was instrumental in getting school social work established in Manhattan and she was a regular volunteer at local nursing homes. Her house was always a welcoming place for foreign students at K-State. About 15 people had the opportunity to live with her and her family over the years. In fact, the Kirmsers hosted the first AFS student (Ernst Lschner from Austria) in Manhattan,1960. In 1969 she was invited to be one of the first writers of brochures and posters for a new business in town, The Master Teacher. Meantime, she wrote for herself, publishing several poems and short stories and completed a rough draft for a play. She considered one of her most important 'jobs' to be that of 'Freedom Writer' for Amnesty International, a loving, heartrending task she continued into her late 80's. She was a prolific writer of letters: to friends, to The Manhattan Mercury, to presidents, to governors, to companies about their products and she received many responses back from them, presidents included. She was the most loyal friend a person could have. She kept in touch with her childhood friends and English pen-pal her whole life and worked very hard at maintaining all her adult friendships, faithfully remembering important occasions and knowing what was important to each person. Jeune is preceded in death by her parents and her brother. She is survived by her husband, Philip G. Kirmser of Manhattan, her son Larry (Lars) Kirmser and wife Ada of Covington, Washington; her daughter, Sandy Chastan and husband David of Manhattan; one grandson, Philip J. Kirmser and wife Beth of Everett, Washington and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at noon on Tuesday, June 12 at the Unitarian/Universalist Fellowship on Zeandale Road with the Reverend Michael Nelson officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools Foundation, Jeune Kirmser Fund. Contributions may be left in care of Irvin-Parkview Funeral Home, 1317 Poyntz Ave.