- Date Of Birth: April 12, 1916
- Date Of Death: December 29, 2010
- State: Missouri
Opal Eleanor (Gumper) Rethemeyer, 94, of Hermann, Missouri, passed away Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at Hermann Area District Hospital.
Mrs. Rethemeyer was born in Moscow Mills, Missouri on April 12, 1916, the daughter of the late Herman and Emma (Maupin) Gumper.
She attended grade school at Moscow Mills Crabapple School and graduated from New Haven High School. She attended college at Central Wesleyan College in Warrenton, then went on to Central Missouri State Teacher’s College at Warrensburg where she received her bachelor’s degree. She later received her master’s degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
She was the widow of George Henry Rethemeyer. They were married August 16, 1952 at St. James Church, Stony Hill, Missouri.
She taught school for 43 years in Gasconade County. Her career began at the age of 18 in a one-room school house (Roth School) where her mother had previously taught. She taught there for three years and then for eight years in the Richwood School. She and her sister Dorthy Haeffner were some of the first “English” (versus German) teachers in the German School House in Hermann where she taught first grade for five years. After finishing her master’s degree she returned to Hermann to teach second, fourth, and seventh grades, and special education. Later on she headed up a remedial reading program for the Hermann Public School system. She retired from teaching in 1981.
Opal was a member of St. Paul United Church of Christ, where she was a member of the Women’s Fellowship, a Sunday school teacher, and a confirmation class sponsor. She was a member and past president of the Hermann Hospital Auxiliary. While serving as the Auxiliary President, they received national recognition. She was named Auxilian of the year for the state of Missouri in 1992.
