Margaret I. Kemper

Margaret Irene Kemper died of natural causes on June 5, 2011. Margaret was born to Louis Francis and Cora Mary Murphy Sommer, October 22, 1914, in Piedmont, Oklahoma, where she grew up with her extended family. She married Harrison Henry Kemper of Bethany, Oklahoma on August 5, 1939. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and her brothers and sisters, Ivan Sommer, Mary Wilson, Vera Henthorn, Marvin Sommer, and Vernon Sommer.

Margaret is survived by her children and their spouses, Virginia Ann and Brian M. Dell, Thomas Marvin and Gillian Burwood Kemper, and Cynthia Margaret and George Kent. She leaves her grandchildren, Victoria Dell Casse, Louis Patrick Dell, Sarah Dell Knecht, Jennifer Kemper Scoles, Michael Kemper, Nicole Kent, and Christopher Kent. She also leaves her great-grandchildren, Patrick Etienne Casse, Charlotte Isabelle Casse, Brent Nestor Dell, John-Louis Harrison Dell, Joseph Henry Knecht, Catherine Rose Knecht, Philip Xavier Knecht, Jason Scoles, Shane Scoles, Emily Scoles, Marleigh Baron-Kent, Natasha Baron-Kent, Sophia Kent, Alexandra Kent, and a great-great-grandchild, Logan Scoles.

Margaret was a loving mother, an artist, a talented and resourceful woman, an athlete, an excellent homemaker, and an avid bridge and poker player. She lived a long and fruitful life, and she will be greatly missed by her family. Margaret=s children extend heartfelt thanks to family and friends who were so good to Margaret during her last decades, especially to her granddaughter and caregiver, Jennifer Scoles, her friend Phil NeVore, and to her nieces Pat Koelsch, Jane Butler, Judy Atkerson, and Mary Ann Geilich, and Dorothy McGinnis. The family also thanks Bellevue Nursing Center and Mercy Hospice for their care of Margaret.

Margaret was baptized at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Lockridge, Oklahoma (the church no longer stands), and she was until her death an active member of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. A Rosary will be held 6:00PM, Thursday, June 9, 2011, at Bill Merritt Funeral Home, 6201 N.W. 39th Expressway, Bethany, Oklahoma. A requiem Mass for Margaret will be said at 10:00am, Saturday, June 11, 2011 at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, 2121 N. Portland Ave., OKC. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery.

Arrangements under the direction of Bill Merritt Funeral Service, Bethany, OK.