Ava Hemmer

May 23, 2024

Ave Germaine Hemmer, longtime resident of Palmer and Wasilla, Alaska, died peacefully on May 23, 2024, at Primrose in Wasilla. She was 93 years old. Geri was born in Schuylerville, N.Y., the third of four children to Oscar and Margaret Brown. She graduated from Schuylerville Central High School and earned a Bachelor Degree in Education in 1952 from Potsdam State Teachers College in Potsdam, N.Y. She enjoyed working in the gladiolus fields during the summers. Her teaching career began at Queensbury School in So. Glensfalls, N.Y. In 1953, she moved to Palmer, and started teaching second grade at Swanson Elementary. She married John "Jack" Hemmer in 1953, and raised five children on their farm on Hemmer Road. After retiring in 1985, they moved to Nancy Lake and returned to Mountain Rose in Palmer in 2003.

Jack and Geri loved life in Alaska. They also spent a lot of time traveling around the country to visit new places and to spend time with family and friends. Geri loved her flowers, was an avid reader and painter. Geri was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church and the Willow Garden Club. While living on Nancy Lake, summers were spent boating, gardening and spending time with grandchildren who would come to visit. Winters were spent skiing, visiting with friends and playing games of cards and dominos.

Geri is survived by her brother, Richard Brown of Florida; five children, Janet Williams and her husband, Randy, Nancy Gibson, Sara Dodge and her husband, Allen, Susan VanPatten and her husband, Duane and Carl Hemmer and his wife, Cindy; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband Jack; sisters, Marie Burch and Patricia DeSio. She will be greatly missed.

Memorial donations may be sent to the charity of your choice.

When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.