Karen Joan Hammerlof

Karen was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Bertil Emanuel and Anna Johnson Hammerlof. Her father died in combat fighting in France on January 7, 1945. Bertil J. Hammerlof Drive in Springfield, Mass., is named in his memory. Anna subsequently married Martin J. Elmer. She graduated from Springfield Classical High School in 1963. She then enrolled at Tufts University, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) in 1967. The highlight of her college years was her junior year abroad, 1965-6, in Naples, Italy. After graduation, she moved to New York City, working first as a Social Worker at the Henry Street Settlement, and then, in the mid-Seventies, becoming the Latin teacher at Manhasset High School in Long Island. She also taught some Italian and Spanish. Karen also earned two Master's Degrees, one in the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the other in Classics from the City University of New York. She served as President of the Classical Association of the Empire State, for which she was given the Morton E. Spillenger Award for Distinguished Service. She retired in 2005, and continued to live in Manhattan before moving to First Community Village in Columbus, Ohio, in October 2017. Karen loved music, and had subscriptions to the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall. She regularly attended dance and theater performances. She also frequently visited museums, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her greatest passion was travelling. Over the years she visited Europe, Canada, Mexico and South America, China, the Middle East, and North Africa. Her favorite foreign country was Italy, where in total she spent almost three years of her life, and her favorite city Rome. She was also a member of the American World War II Orphans Network. She is survived by her partner, Hugh M. Lee, (Emeritus,Professor of Classics at the University of Maryland, College Park), and her half-brother, Steven Elmer, of New Boston, New Hampshire. Donations in her memory can be made to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund, 34 Washington St., Suite 310, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481 (Email: donate@curealz.org ).