Eunice Winifred (Jerred) Richter and
Elmer Paul Richter

-- married May 1944 --
 

upper picture circa 1980,
middle picture circa 1996
Dad alone circa 2006
Mom alone circa 2001

Dad died at age 94 on 8 September 2007.
Below is the obituary we sent to papers in towns where he had lived around the country.

Elmer Paul "Hammer" Richter was born 7 Dec 1912 on a farm near Wausaukee (Wisconsin). He was the youngest child of a large family, having 3 brothers and 5 sisters. When Elmer was six, his family moved to Niagara so his father, Mathias, could work in the Kimberly-Clark mill. The four youngest children -- Elmer, Wava, George "Boots", and Rose Ñ still lived at home, where their mother Louisa [Rosenthal] took in washing to make ends meet. As a young man, Hammer spent a lot of time rambling in the woods, hunting and fishing with his buddies, taking pictures, and working on his Model T Ford. At 17, he joined Kimberly-Clark, returning there after WWII. In 1942, he married Lt. Eunice Jerred, who was serving in the WAAC. Elmer was a good employee, and Kimberly-Clark asked him to help bring online two newly-purchased mills -- first one in Mexico City and then one in Anderson, California, where his children, Jim & Lois, went to school. At age 60, Elmer & Eunice moved to Sitka (Alaska) where he worked for ALP until retiring 5 years later. The highlight of his time in Alaska was, while on a cruise ship in Glacier Bay, E&E began a friendship with a Japanese couple from Yokohama (Japan). In the years since, the four of them have spent many vacations together both in the U.S. and Japan. They ate and slept in each others homes, traveled together, and are still very close friends. After buying their first 2 houses, Eunice designed and Elmer helped build 4 other homes in as many states. While Eunice was busy designing their next house, Elmer gardened, golfed, worked in his shop, and read books. Together they square danced, visited friends, played cards, and laughed. He was a "duplicate bridge director" and both were masters of that game. After living to California to be near their children for 10 years (first in Davis and then near Dunnigan), E&E decided to move back up to Oregon -- for the clean air & the wonderful amenities of the Linus Oaks community in Roseburg. There they made many new friends and have enjoyed re-retiring. Elmer died in his sleep at age 94, on 8 Sept 2007. He had a good life. He will be missed. Family can be reached by phone at 530-902-0209 (Lois). There will be no memorial service. Eunice and Elmer have lived in so many different places, with a few friends still living in each, that one large get together would be impossible. So please take each other out for dinner, tell stories, recall a joke or two, and LAUGH -- just as you'd do if Elmer was there with you!

Mom died at age 98 on 22 December 2014.
She wanted no service and no obituary. A video tape of her remembering her service during WWII was made by the "Heroes" project in fall 2014.