Elmer John Nemmers Obituary

Updated: 14 April 2009

Elmer John Nemmers

Friday, June 23, 2006

Elmer John Nemmers of Le Mars died Thursday, June 22, 2006, at the age of 95.

He was born Jan. 13, 1911, in Le Mars, the son of to John G. and Anna (Ley) Nemmers. He was educated in St. Joseph Grade and High School in Le Mars and the University of Iowa. At the University, he was a member of Delta Chi, was elected to Tau Beta Pi and played on the University baseball team. He graduated in 1933 with a degree in civil engineering.

For the next three years he was employed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on construction projects in Colorado and Wyoming. Then for three years he was a district construction engineer for Standard Oil in Davenport.

He was married to Celeste McGrew of Chicago, Ill., on Feb. 18, 1939, in St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Chicago. The couple came to Le Mars to make their home.

Elmer established his own engineering practice and joined his brother Orville in taking over from their father the operation of Nemmers Brothers Construction Company. The firm did commercial construction in Le Mars and throughout northwest Iowa until 1960 when the partnership was dissolved and the firm ceased operation.

From 1960 to 1964 Elmer was contract administrator for Tower Communications of Sioux City. From 1965 to 1970 he was structural engineer in the Sioux City office of Architects Assoc.  From 1970 to his retirement in 1976 he was City Engineer and Director of Public Works for the City of Le Mars. In 1981 he started to work part-time for Warnock Hersey. He did quality control for them in the tri-state area until 1989. During this time he also did some teaching at Western Iowa Tech.

During World War II, in 1942 and 1943, Elmer was a Degausing Engineer for the U.S. Navy in ports on the east coast and Pearl Harbor. In 1944 and 1945 he was a Lt. (j.g.) in the U. S. Navy assigned to Military Government.

Elmer was a registered Professional Engineer and a registered Land Surveyor. He was a former member of the Iowa Engineering Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

He was also a honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus, a 60-year member of the American Legion,Wasmer Post 241 and the Last Man's Club of World War II.

During Elmer's working years he was actively involved in projects and activities of the City, St. Joseph Church and Gehlen School. He also served on the Plymouth County Condemnation Board.

In retirement he and Celeste traveled around the country in their RV and spent some winters in the South. He enjoyed many good years of golf and bowling.

He is survived by his wife and five children: William of St. Paul, Minn.; Charles and Judy of Columbia, Mo.; Mary and Howard Senn of Albuquerque, N.M., Virginia of Boulder, Colo., and Louise and John Mageli of St. Paul. He is also survived by nine grandchildren: Adam and Lisa Nemmers of Springfield, Mo., Bart Nemmers of Washington, D.C., Cecilia and Greg Lillegard of Menomonee Falls, Wis. Source