Fern Kehr

Rosary services for Fern Kehr, 82, of Memphis, Texas will be at 7:00 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2007 at Hughs Memorial Chapel. Mass will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 23, 2007 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Father Gregory Bunyan, Officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Memphis, TX under the direction of Hughs Funeral Home of Memphis, TX. Mrs. Kehr passed away Tuesday, June 19, 2007 in Colorado Springs, CO. She was born on February 26, 1925 in Mansfield, TX to the late Mr. Murphy Jones and Mrs. Birdie Maserang Jones. She attended schools in High Way, OK. Her family moved several times in Texas and Oklahoma before leaving for California about the time World War II started. Fern became Rosy the Riveter. Actually, she was a welder helping build the Victory ships in Oakland. There, on the first day of work in 1942, she met John Kehr. They married on April 27, 1943 in Oakland, CA. In 1945, they purchased a truck and went into business for the first time into ranching in Nenzel, NE. Together, Fern and John started their second business in 1965, the Sidney Motor Lodge in Sidney, NE. They moved to Memphis, TX on December 31, 1967 from Sidney, NE where they purchased the DeVille Restaurant and Motel. In 1975, they sold the motel and became partners in the Memphis State Bank. John retired in 1982 and Fern a few years later. They traveled and enjoyed friends in Memphis until John’s passing on April 23, 1986. After that, Fern visited family, traveled around the world, and settled into life in Memphis, playing golf and cards with friends and jogging. She was physically active and strong until the last year of her life. Fern was an active gardener, her home in Memphis was selected yard of the month more than once. She was active in Sacred Heart Catholic Church as a communion minister and lectern. She had a great faith and acted as a model for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “She is now in the arms of the Lord”. Fern was a member of the Red River Red Hatters Club, Hospital Auxiliary and helped deliver Meals on Wheels. She loved playing bridge and golf with her friends. She was active with crossword puzzles, she was a devastating (but modest) winner in the game of Boggle. She was preceded in death by her step mother, Audrey Branch Jones, five brothers, two sisters and one granddaughter, Stephanie Kehr. She is survived by four sons, J. Alan Kehr and wife Lori of Austin, TX; Garry Kehr of Seattle, WA; Roger Kehr and wife Deanna of Lacey, WA; Robert Kehr of Plano, TX; one daughter, Pamela Cardenas and husband Rey of Colorado Springs, CO; two brothers, Dean and Larry Jones, three sisters, Rosalyn Hughes, Larayne Skelton and Emma Jean Newcombe, eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be made to the American Cancer Society, 1500 Wallace Blvd., Amarillo, TX 79106 or to Fairview Cemetery, P.O. 265, Memphis, TX 79245.