Kummer, George

Description

George N Kummer was born on August 11, 1905, in Uhrichsville, Ohio, to Jessie Matilda Carmack, age 29, and Jacob Hector Kummer, age 27.

George worked at the Denison, OH railroad shops while attending Ohio State University, where he graduated in the 1920s. After teaching high school in Uhrichsville for two years, he earned a master’s degree at Harvard University and a doctorate at New York University. He taught at Hampton School for Boys in New Hampshire, Seton Hall College and Bowling Green State University.

George married Marguerite Cameron on June 22, 1932, in Rye, New York. In Rye his family lived at 15 Purchase Street.

George enlisted July 28, 1942 and served as a corporal in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He attended an Army Specialized Training
program, foreign area and language
study with the 155th Service Unit
(ASTP). An intensive
program of instruction designed to give a knowledge of the
inhabitants, institutions, natural and
developed resources and languages of
a specific area of Europe. Africa or
Asia. He was honorably discharged October 10,1945.

After the war, George joined the faculty at Western Reserve University in 1947. He taught at the school’s Cleveland College on Public Square for several years before he moved to the University Circle campus. He was a Mason.

George’s first wife, Marguerite became principal of Onaway Elementary School in Shaker Heights.
She died in 1992.

George N. Kummer, a retired Case Western Reserve University English professor and expert on American folklore, died Saturday July 10, 1999, in Cleveland, Ohio at University Hospitals. He was 93.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, the former Earla Hawkins; and a sister.

A memorial service was held at Noble Road Presbyterian Church, 2780 Noble Rd., Cleveland Heights.