Kemmler

Beatrice Kemmler-Ernst

Link to book: An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman - My Mother's Story (Amika Kemmler-Ernst)

In 2022, Amika Kemmler-Ernst wrote An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman - My Mother's Story about her late mother, Beatrice Kemmler-Ernst (1921-2006), who grew up in Valley Stream:

This book is based on a compilation of artifacts of my mother’s life. It includes some of her own writing, both formal and informal–personal reflections, newspaper articles, and a presentation for members of her continuing care community – as well as pieces written by those who knew and loved her. Photos. A selection of her drawings and paintings.

I have gathered these together and created an illustrated narrative to honor her memory; to acknowledge the impact she had on me, and to create a multi-faceted portrait for family and friends.

Beatrice Kemmler Ernst was an extraordinary “ordinary” woman. She lived most of her adult life in a suburban community on Long Island, an hour’s train ride from New York City, where she raised three children. Rejecting the image of housewife, she described herself as a “homemaker” instead. And yet, like most of us, she was so much more complex than any role implies, embodying a variety of contradictions. She was affectionate and welcoming (her hugs legendary) as well as prudish and judgmental. Opinionated and forthright, she liked to shock people – displaying Playgirl Magazine in her living room and relishing the visit of my African American college friend to our all-white neighborhood – while reminding me not to talk with strangers and worrying, “What will the neighbors think?”

I hope that this book will evoke fond memories and bring new discoveries about this remarkable woman.

About the Author:

Amika Kemmler-Ernst spent the first four years of her life on Mineola Avenue before moving to Massapequa in 1951. Kemmler-Ernst is an award-winning teacher who earned a doctorate from Harvard's Graduate School of Education in her 50s. She co-authored The Great Perpetual Learning Machine (Little Brown, 1975) and has produced a variety of newsletters, class books, school magazines and yearbooks. She also helped write The Teachers' Vision of the Future of Education: A Challenge to the Nation (IMPACT II, 1991). Now retired, she volunteers in local schools and writes a monthly photo essay for the Boston Teachers Union, "We're Learning Here," that gives voice to students engaged in their everyday schoolwork. Amika wrote An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman: My Mother's Story during the pandemic -- her parents were her first and most influential teachers. In her "spare time" Amika enjoys reading, writing, art, nature, travel, jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and helping people.

Biography Highlights (focused on Valley Stream):

In 1927, the Kemmlers moved to 90 East Mineola Avenue, a 1903 "farmhouse."
The house had a coal stove in the kitchen and a coal-fired pot-bellied stove in the cellar.
The family raised chickens out back and gardened the empty lot next door.
John "Jack" Kemmler (1899-1959), Amika's grandfather, secured a job during the Depression as a Valley Stream garbageman. Mayor Henry Waldinger, a Mineola Avenue neighbor at the time, got him the position.
In the 1940s, Jack was promoted to a Valley Stream police officer. In 1943, while at the police department's Fifth Precinct at 30 West Jamaica Avenue, his superior threw a heavy book at him because Jack failed to pick up a pack of cigarettes for him. Jack lost an eye, and a month later, the sergeant was a suicide (newspaper articles in book).
Bea was a founding member of the Mothers Club, a forerunner to the PTA, where her children, Bea and Eileen, attended the Franklin School (1925-1983) on Franklin Avenue. The school was renamed the Donahue School in 1973, in honor of Reverend William F. Donahue, who pastored to the Lutheran Church of Our Savior at 888 Rockaway Avenue for 45 years (1932-1977). The Donahue School closed in 1980 due to low enrollment. In 1984, the school was demolished - condominiums now occupy that location.
She cleaned homes during the Depression and later landed a position at Moses Cornwell's Coal Company at 80 East Hawthorne Avenue.
Bea loved growing up in Valley Stream. In 1980, she wrote an article for the Long Island Forum entitled "Farmhouse Porch"
Bea and Eileen walked to Franklin School. The students sat at a one-piece wooden desk with a lid and inkwell. At lunchtime, if the sisters stayed at school, they either ate their brought-from-home lunches, or purchased, for a nickel, a bowl of soup or spaghetti. (The Franklin School no longer exists. Condominiums replaced the demolished building.)
On days when the weather was cooperating, the young Kemmlers would run through the nearby woods and eat by the brook (the woods are now the Village Green).
On gym days, the girls wore white middy blouses with large red ties and red skirts. Their gym teacher was Tom Ward, "and he was a doll."
Field Day, even in the 30s, was an established and much-loved school event. There was no school on Field Day and everyone ate ice-cream!
Bea and Eileen attended Central High. Bea's French teacher was Helen Dowdeswell (1914-2010), an early member of the historical society who spearheaded the Valley Stream Oral History project.
She participated in a variety of extracurriculars, including bowling: "Our bowling group was fairly new for girls. We went to the local pool hall, where we had to walk past a lot of unsavory characters at the pool tables to get to the alleys.
Bea graduated Central High in 1939 and took a job with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in NYC.
In 1939, Bea met her husband, Richard "Dick" Ernst (1920-2008). Dick lived at 81 Fairfield Street in the Gibson community of South Valley Stream. Dick also attended Central, although the couple did not know one another during their school years.
The couple met "at the corner alleys above Buteau Pharmacy," 117 Rockaway Avenue (northeast corner of Rockaway and East Mineola avenues). The bowling alley was located on the second floor.
In 1944, during Dick's stint in the Army Air Forces (he was stationed in Tampa) the couple married at the Valley Stream Presbyterian Church, which at the time was located at 14 East Mineola Avenue (the building, once a stable, was home to Temple Gates of Zion before the synagogue moved to Corona Avenue.) In 1956-57, the Presbyterian Church moved to 130 Central Avenue and the Unity Church of Christianity moved in - where it remains to this day. The Presbyterian Church on Central Avenue has since shuttered.
The Kemmler-Ernst wedding reception was held at Bob-n-Hen's restaurant at 600 West Merrick Road in the Clear Steam section, the West End, of Valley Stream. Bob-n-Hen's was previously Tony Boden's Chop House, a popular restaurant and hostelry.
When the war ended, the newlyweds returned to 90 East Mineola Avenue where they lived with the Kemmler family before moving to Massapequa in 1951.
Bea's greatest talent, perhaps, was her art. Her empty-nest years were filled with art classes, visits to museums on Long Island and NYC, and showing and selling her work at a variety of venues. She painted flowers, still lifes, portraits, and landscapes. She worked in oil, pen and ink, and water-color.