Susie and Ada Doty, Grandmother's Sisters

My grandmother, Dorothy Doty, had two sisters who were older and both died before her.  All of the sisters, sadly, died in the prime of their lives.

From L to R: Alice Newcomer Doty, Susie Doty Kemmerling, Ada Doty Lohr, Dorothy Doty Ordway

The oldest sister and oldest child in the George W. Doty family was Susan Bertia Doty.  Known as "Susie", she was born on February 13, 1880 at the Doty homestead in Monroe County, Michigan.

Her marriage record indicated that she married Will L. Kemmerling when she was 20 and he, 21.  The marriage took place on May 24, 1900 in Raisinville, Monroe County.  The groom's parents were John and Sophia Loose Kemmerling.  The census taker came around in June of 1900 and found the month-long newlyweds,William and Susie, living with his parents in Raisinville.  Will was working as a farm laborer on the home farm at the time.  Also living with them were Will's older brother, Jerry, age 33, and his little sister, Eltie, age 16.

By 1910, Will and Susie had rented their own home at 355 Harrison Street in Monroe.  The couple had two children, Dorothy E., age 7, and Donald, 5.  (Was Dorothy E. named after Susie's little sister, my grandmother?)  Will worked as an insurance agent. 
The family eventually moved out to the River Road to a farm where the 1920 census taker found them.  Will, 40, and Susie, 39, had two teenagers, Dorothy, 17, and Donald, 15. 

Left: Dorothy Kemmerling
She was very close in age to her aunt, Dorothy.  They were only three or four years apart.

Right: Donald and Dorothy Kemmerling

I have not been able to obtain a copy of Susie's obituary, but she died on May 8, 1926 at the age of 36.  Her husband, William, on the other hand, lived a long life until the age of 95.  William's obituary appeared in the Monroe paper on September 3, 1973:

"William Kemmerling

William L. Kemmerling, 95, a resident of the Beach Nursing Home since January, 1969, died Saturday.  He had been in poor health for a year and seriously ill for a week.  (Funeral arrangements deleted for this post.)

The son of John and Sophia Kemmerling, he was born August 3, 1878, in Raisinville Township.  He married Susie Doty on May 24, 1900.  She preceded him in death on May 8, 1926.  Mr. Kemmerling was a farmer and real estate broker and a life member of the Masonic Lodge 27, F & AM; life member of the Monroe Club, and a past member of the IOOF.  Surviving are a son, Donald of Pompano Beach, Fla; a sister, Miss Ettie Kemmerling of Monroe, three grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and a great-great grandchild.  He was preceded in death by a daughter, two brothers and a sister."

William and Susie are buried in Woodland Cemetery in Monroe.

The photo on the right shows second sister, Ada Doty, working on her car.  Ada was born on October 16, 1883, about three years after her older sister, Susie.  Ada lived on the farm homestead with her mother after her father died in 1910 until her marriage in 1915. 

Then on November 13, 1915, at the age of 32, she married Henry A. Lohr, a farmer in the area.  They obtained their marriage license on the same day they were married, which was common at that time. They had one child, George Doty Lohr, who was born January 29, 1917 and died on June 4, 1917 at about the age of 4 months.

At the time of the 1920 census, Ada and Henry were living on a farm on Azalia Road, London, Michigan, close to Monroe.  By 1930, her mother, Alice, had moved in with the couple at 163 Ostrander Road, London, Michigan on a farm Henry owned.  Alice was 72 at the time of the census and Ada, 46.  The photo below is labeled, "Aunt Ada's home," and shows the interior of one of the houses above probably.

Ada died on August 8, 1932 at the age of 48.

Her obituary appeared in the Monroe Evening News on August 11th:

"SERVICES ARE HELD FOR MRS. ADA LOHR

Lifelong Resident of County Buried Today After Rites at Azalia Church

Special to the Evening News

Azalia, Aug. 11 - Funeral srvices for Mrs. Ada Doty Lohr, wife of Henry Lohr and a lifelong resident of Monroe county, were held at the Azalia Methodist Church at 2 p.m. today.  Mrs. Lohr died suddenly of a heart attack at her home at 11:30 p.m. Monday.  Burial was in Woodland cemetery in Monroe.

The Rev. Cletus A. Parker of the Ida Evangelical Church assisted by the Rev. F. A.Blake of the Dundee and Azalia Methodist Church had charge of the service.  The pallbearers, all residents of Azalia and vicinity, were Carl Bruckner, Miles Frink, William Noble, Dan Auten, Nelson Lamson and Charles Rogers.

Mrs. Lohr was born on the Doty homestead in Raisinville township, a homestead which has been in the Doty family since 1837.  She was born October 16, 1883 and lived on the homestead until her marriage to Henry Lohr in 1915 when they moved to the present home a half mile east of Azalia on the Ostrander Road.

She was active in the work of her community.  She was a Silver Star member of the Raisinville Grange, was a member of the Azalia Methodist Church, and of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Lohr is survived by her mother, Mrs. Alice Doty of Raisinville; one sister, Mrs. Dorothy Ordway of Malinta, Ohio; three brothers, Guy Doty of Raisinville; Harry Doty of Monroe and George Doty of Los Angeles.  She was a niece of Mrs. L. W. Newcomer of Monroe."

Three sisters...three early deaths

Susie at age 36, Ada at age 48 and Dorothy at age 46.