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Her life is a quilt made of love

By Times Staff Writer
Published July 4, 2005

Helen Krummel celebrated 100 years twice. At the first birthday party, held at Clearwater Garden Club, she was surrounded by 30 members of her family from Massachusetts, Ohio and Georgia for the auspicious occasion. Later, she was honored again by staff and fellow residents at Beckett Lake Lodge of Clearwater, her home since December 2003.

Born June 25, 1905, in Akron, Ohio, where she lived until 1963, Mrs. Krummel was one of 11 children of Josephine and Carl Spencer, both of German heritage. Her father was a traveling salesman.

Her education included graduation from Actual Business College, where she learned the skills that supported her 13 years of work as a legal secretary and courthouse stenographer. On a manual typewriter, she could pound out 118 words per minute and won several typing contests.

It was love at first sight, she says, when she met Bernard Krummel, who was dancing with one of her sisters. Happily, her sister didn't feel the same way. They were wed on June 12, 1928. He worked for Goodrich Tire Co. until he opened Krummel Realty and Insurance Co. in Akron.

After he developed severe arthritis, the couple decided to sell the business and come to Florida.

In 1962, they moved into a home they had built in Harbor Bluffs, where one of her favorite pastimes was catching blue crabs off the sea wall in their back yard. While she never tasted them because of a severe allergy to shellfish, she was delighted to share them with family and friends.

Locally, Mr. Krummel worked in real estate for several years for Bruce Taylor Realty until around 1985, when the couple decided to move into Top of the World.

They were active members of that retirement community for about 15 years. Both were members of the bowling and golf leagues and he also won several tournaments at the Belleview Biltmore Country Club. A dedicated golfer, she swung a club several days a week up to the age of 85.

In 2000, due to their age and declining health, the Krummels moved to Balmoral, an assisted living facility in Palm Harbor. They had been married 72 years when Mr. Krummel died the next year.

The had two children, a daughter, Pat Geyer, who moved to Clearwater 16 years ago from Akron, and a son, Robert, who had retired to Stone Mountain, Ga. before he died several years ago. She has seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Among the centenarian's memories, which she shared at the celebration of her milestone birthday, were the inventions and conveniences that transformed her life and released her from the hours of chores that filled her own mother's life raising nine children.

Mrs. Krummel was the middle child, with one brother and seven sisters.

She remembers her mother fondly, not only for her dedication to the tasks necessary to keep the brood fed and housed, but also for her creativity and ingenuity - and especially for her "hands that said love with every touch."

Growing up in Akron, the centenarian often recalls how the family would make their way around town on foot. But on Sunday things were different. Her father would rent a horse and buggy to take everyone for a picnic in the country and to pick apples.

Eventually he bought an automobile, a Ford. She was so proud that her family owned a car.

Life was easier for her mother with the addition of electricity. Not only did it replace the gas lamps that had to be lit with matches every night, it also changed how the housework was done.

Especially welcome was the washing machine complete with hot water connection from the new electric water heater. This put an end to hours spent in the basement where large containers of water for cleaning clothes were heated over a gas burner.

Another joy that came with electricity were those special holiday lights - no longer did the family worry about burning the house down by using candles on the Christmas tree.

Yet, even with the improvement brought by inventions, life was modest and simple for a family of 11.

Mrs. Krummel remembers seeing her mother spread newspapers on the floor to make a dress pattern. Then her mother would create "the most beautiful dresses."

With three older sisters, she would have to wait her turn to wear them. It wasn't often that she would wear a "store bought" dress.

Music was important to her family. Before television or even radio, the clan would gather around the Victrola, with each child taking a turn to crank the phonograph.

Eventually, with her first job at the Shell Provision Co., which paid a quarter a day, she saved enough money for a down payment on a player piano so she and her siblings could make their own music.

She attributes her good life and values, such as her work ethic, to her mother's hard work and the family's togetherness. After marrying Mr. Krummel, she used her secretarial skills to help in his business. He would often come home at midnight after negotiating a real estate transaction, and she would type up the contract so it would be ready for the morning signing.

Her daughter describes Mrs. Krummel as "the most incredible mother - caring, always extending herself to family, friends and the community."

Mrs. Geyer remembers also the music that echoed throughout her home, just as it had in her grandparents' home. And how her mother encouraged her and her brother to read, play the piano and to be active in the community. She was their role model as a leader in both of their scouting groups, and served as a volunteer at school and church.

Never inclined to be idle, Mrs. Krummel kept her hands busy in the garden and won many ribbons for flower arranging. She loved arts and crafts and, like her mother, sewing for her children and later for her grand and great-grandchildren.

At her milestone celebration last week, as her family held the hands that had done so much for them, they compared Mrs. Krummel's 100 years to that of a beautiful quilt, resplendent with patches made up of the lessons and values she had instilled in them.

--For information or anniversary form, call 727 445-4109. To submit an item to Good for You, write to Betsy Bolger-Paulet, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756, send fax to (727) 445-4119 or e-mail to paulet@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 4, 2005, 01:42:23]