Geraldine (Gerry) Marie Tammel was born on February 7, 1928, and passed away at her home, just a few hours into her 95th birthday, February 7, 2023. She was the oldest of four, born to Louis and Florence Multhauf in Charles City, Iowa.
The family moved to Mason City, Iowa, when Gerry was in high school. She excelled in art and music and graduated in 1946. Upon graduation, the striking beauty moved to San Diego, Calif., for one year, and worked at a stylish department store, modeling ladies dresses for the female customers, as they did back in those days. Before leaving for California, she had met a dashing, red haired man named Robert Pine, while she was at the Surf Ballroom, dancing one Saturday night in Clear Lake, Iowa. Both loved dancing and were great at it. They began dating, however had a difference of opinion on which religion to raise their children if they were to marry. So Gerry said goodbye and headed for California. After about one year, Robert sent her a dozen roses and said, “Come back home, I miss you, marry me, and you can raise our children Catholic, but I will stay with my Baptist church religion.” So Gerry came back to Iowa and they married December 4, 1948. They first farmed near Clear Lake, where Gerry, although having grown up as a city girl, was determined, in her words, “to show her new husband that she could do it”! And that she did, always working very hard along side her husband, while also caring for their first two born daughters. After a few years, a good opportunity came up to buy a farm in Minnesota, near Cherry Grove. And this is where they raised their four daughters, who were the absolute joy of Gerry’s life! Sadly, Robert passed away from lung cancer November 16, 1973. So Gerry sold the farm, and she and her youngest two daughters still at home, moved to Charles City, Iowa, close to Gerry’s parents in Mason City. Once settled in, Gerry got a phone call one day and began getting “courted” from a newly retired farmer, Mr. Clayton Tammel of Cherry Grove, who had lost his first wife, Francis to cancer the year before. (The Tammel farm was within five miles of the Pine farm) Gerry and Clayton were married in 1976, and they and Gerry’s youngest daughter Bonnie, still in school, moved back to Minnesota to reside in Spring Valley. Clayton would end up becoming the love of Gerry’s life. And they had a very loving, happy marriage for 19 years before Clayton passed away at age 84, in 1995. Gerry’s daughters felt very blessed to have Clayton as a stepfather, because he was so good to them, and treated them like his own.
For Gerry, as a child, growing up poor during the Great Depression instilled a deep appreciation in her for what she and her family did have. And gave her values of not to waste things, and to not put too much value on material things. She passed these values on to her daughters. Gerry was one of the kindest people you would ever want to meet. Always with a happy, genuine spirit. She loved people and life, and loved to sing – able to pull any note out, at any given time; with her pitch perfect, beautiful voice, she sang like a bird. The most important things to her were: God, her four daughters, family, friends, music and flowers.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands, Robert Pine and Clayton Tammel, her parents Louis and Florence Multhauf, her brother Donald Multhauf, and her sister Marylou Gottshalk.
She is survived by her four daughters: Kathleen Anderson, of Lake City, Minn., Linda (Gary) Hopkins, of Rochester, Minn., Eileen (Bruce) Bearinger, of Oelwein, Iowa, and Bonnie Pine, of Dallas, Tex.; three grandchildren: Steven (Ericka) Rosin, Kurt (Hanna) Bearinger, Rachel Bearinger (fiancé Lauren); two great-grandchildren, Loretta and Knox Bearinger, sister Dorothy Mealy, of Madison, Wis., many nieces and nephews, as well as three stepsons: Jon (Marcia) Tammel, of California, Dave (Darlene) Tammel, of Independence, Iowa, and Steve (Karyl) Tammel, of Spring Valley/Cherry Grove; and stepgrandchildren Craig Tammel, Linda Tammel Reiser, Julie Tammel, Christy Tammel Bixby, Jenna Tammel Steeves, and Jessy Tammel Kim.
A celebration of life memorial service and Mass was held at Gerry’s St. Ignatius Catholic Church on February 13, 2023. A final resting place burial will be held in the spring time (Gerry’s favorite time of year), in Mason City, Iowa, next to her parents.
Leave a Reply