STAHMER, Katherine (Kate)

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Monday, December 17, 2012 Katherine Buehler Stahmer, 91, a longtime resident of Prescott, passed away Dec. 7, 2012, in Dayton, Ohio. She was born in Blythe, Calif. to William C. and Elizabeth T. (Jones) Buehler. After high school, Kate attended junior colleges in California and spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley, before graduating from business college in 1942. She worked for the Los Angeles Army Signal Corps Depot during WWII as a supervisor, transferring to the Sacramento Depot after the war ended. In 1946, she took a job with the Army Quartermaster Corps on Okinawa, because she wanted to see some of the world. It was there that she met Milton Stahmer, an Air Force officer who would become her husband. After returning to the states, Kate and Milt were married on Sept. 25, 1948 in Aurora, Colo. That began many years of raising a family, welcoming six children into their household, while moving from one Air Force base to another. Despite the rigors and separations of military life, they provided a loving home for their family everywhere from England to Hawaii. In 1975, Milt retired after 33 years of military service and they moved to Prescott, where they would live for the rest of their lives. Kate loved to garden and every year would grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, preserving some for later enjoyment by her and her family. She also was an accomplished painter, working with the Mountain Artists Guild for many years. Genealogy was another avocation, tracing her mother's roots back to Wales and visiting the ancestral towns. Kate also enjoyed traveling, reading and corresponding with friends and relatives. Kate is survived by six children, Tim (Ann) of Kingstowne, Va., Joel (Francesca) of Pennington, N.J., Bruce (Shari) of Pataskala, Ohio, Keith (Debbie) of Surprise, Ariz., Milt (Kathy) of Eugene, Ore. and Laura (Paul) Schantz of Dayton, Ohio; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Milt and her sisters, Mary and Florence ("Tim"). Cremation will be by Newcomer Funeral Homes in Kettering, Ohio, with funeral and burial to be in Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined. The family would like to thank the residents and staff of Las Fuentes Resort Village for the kindness and friendship that they extended to her. They also ask that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to a local hospice. Information provided by survivors.