Stamper, Frank John, 1883-1929

STAMPER, KIMBALL, KIRCHOFF, CABARET

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:37

(Note that sources vary as to whether his name was Frank J. Stamper or John F. Stamper. Frank J. seems more likely to have been the correct name.)

From the Sioux County Index (Hull), January 3, 1930:

SUPT. F. J. STAMPER PASSED AWAY TUESDAY
Had Been Superintendent of Schools Here for Many Years Before His First Illness

Superintendent of Schools, F. J. Stamper, passed away at the Hull Hospital Tuesday where he had been a patient for about six weeks, following an illness which started with pneumonia. He had been an anemia sufferer for years, which, coupled with the pneumonia made his recovery impossible.

Mr. Stamper was Superintendent of Schools here at Hull for many years prior to his first illness in 1926 when he was given a leave of absence. He traveled extensively in the south, and returned to his old post last September, apparently in very good health. Mrs. Stamper had a nervous break-down on their last trip south-west, and did not return with Mr. Stamper, remaining at Phoenix, Arizona. Both were very fine people, very active in church and social circles, and all speak only in the highest terms of the former Superintendent and his wife.

The funeral will be held Friday afternoon in charge of the American Legion of which he has always been a faithful member and a past commander, and burial made in Hope Cemetery at Hull. He was also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and belonged at the home town camp at Clearfield, Iowa, where he was born.

Mr. Stamper would have been forty seven years old his next birthday, having been born August 3, 1883. Besides his wife he is survived by his mother and several brothers and sisters, all residing in the south and south-west.

He was acknowledged as one of the best School Men this section of the county has ever had, and we have yet to hear of anyone who was not entirely satisfied with his work. He was actually loved by all the children at the school although of a stern disposition and maintaining the strictest discipline at all times.

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From the Sioux County Index, January 10, 1930:

HULL’S SUPERINTENDENT BURIED LAST SATURDAY
Funeral Services for J. F. Stamper of the Hull Public Schools Held Saturday, January 1st.

A military funeral, conducted by Wegman Post of Hull, was accorded Prof. J. F. Stamper, beloved superintendent of the local schools, last Saturday afternoon. The funeral cortege left the G. Van Steenbergen home promptly at 1 o’clock for the First Reformed church where the services were held. Rev. Stoppels of the American Reformed church and Rev. Douwstra, the pastor, preached excellent sermons and several songs were sung by the mixed double quartette of the High School and a male quartette of former graduates. The remains were laid to rest in Hope Cemetery.

The flower offerings were beautiful and numerous and showed in no uncertain terms with what great respect and esteem Mr. Stamper as held by all who knew him. The business places of Hull were all closed during the funeral and everyone who could possibly get out was in attendance, it being one of the largest funerals ever held here. Those attending the funeral in a body were: The American Legion; Ladies Auxiliary; Board of Education; High School Faculty; High School; and Class of 1926 which was the last class to graduate under his supervision.

John Frank Stamper was born August 8, 1883, at Clearfield, Iowa, the son of Wm. and Maggie Stamper. He received his common and High School education at Clearfield and Shenandoah, Iowa, and his higher education in the colleges at Lincoln, Nebraska; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Cedar Falls, Iowa. He taught first in the grades of the home school at Clearfield, Iowa, until elected Superintendent of Schools at Beaconsfield, Iowa.

At Beaconsfield, Iowa, in December 1911, he was married to a local young lady by the name of Miss Annabelle Kimball, who died in 1913. From Beaconsfield he went to Remsen, Iowa, where he continued as Superintendent of Schools until he was elected at Hull in 1919.

In June 1918 he was married again to Miss Valeska Kirchoff of Remsen, at Portland, Oregon, where he was stationed with the 91st Division of the American Army. Mrs. Stamper still survives him but was unable to be present at the funeral. A few years ago he was made a Lieutenant and later, a Commanding Officer in the regular army.

Mr. Stamper was one of a family of five children, one of whom and his father, dying about the time he came to Hull. Besides his wife and mother, Mrs. Maggie Stamper of St. Louis, Missouri, he is survived by one brother, E. A. Stamper of St. Louis and two sisters, Mrs. Minnie Alvord of Pueblo, Colorado, and Mrs. Myrtle Freant of St. Louis. The mother, brother and two sisters were present at the funeral.

(The obituary includes a photograph)

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Also in the Sioux County Index, January 10, 1930:

Superintendent Tye’s County School Notes

Superintendent F. J. Stamper of Hull, who had been ill for about two months, passed away last week and was buried Saturday at Hull. He was given a very impressive burial by the American Legion of which he was a member. The Superintendents’ Club of the County attended in a body. A large crowd of people from the county attended. The school at Hull attended in a body and all business houses were closed and practically every one in Hull assisted in the last rites of this excellent man. Mr. Stamper has made a splendid record at Hull and his going away will be missed both at Hull and throughout the county. He was a man of few words and many friends. honorable, patient, and a splendid citizen, he goes to the great beyond, leaving the world better for having played a part.

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From the Alton Democrat, January 10, 1930, Hull news:

F. J. Stamper

Military funeral services were held for F. J. Stamper, superintendent of Hull public schools for over seven years, at the First Ref. church at Hull Saturday afternoon. Death, due to complications of anemia which set in after an attack of pneumonia, came after several weeks confinement to the hospital. Mr. Stamper had been suffering from anemia for several years.

Frank J. Stamper was born at Clearfield, Iowa, August 8, 1883, died at Hull December 31, 1929 at the age of 46 years. He received his grammar school education when the family resided in Nebraska, but attended and was graduated from the high school at Clearfield. Later he attended colleges at Shenandoah and Cedar Falls, Iowa and in Colorado.

He taught school in the home town of Clearfield for several years, from there going to Beaconsfield. It was at the latter place in 1911 that he married Annebelle Kimball. The first Mrs. Stamper died childless, less than two years later. Soon after, Mr. Stamper took a position as superintendent of schools at Remsen, Ia., teaching there five or six years until the United States entered the war.

In June 1918, Mr. Stamper, then a lieutenant stationed at Portland, Ore., married Valeska Kirchoff of Remsen. A year later the couple moved to Hull where Mr. Stamper acted as superintendent for the next seven years.

In the spring of 1926 the school board gave their superintendent a leave of absence in the hope that he might regain his health. Followed a trip west and rigorous living in a valiant fight against anemia. The next year Mr. and Mrs. Stamper returned to Hull and lived here until Mr. Stamper’s health was again on the decline. There followed another trip west, a long severe period of illness, a separation between Mr. and Mrs. Stamper which was never again adjusted, a long lonely fight for health in the outdoor air of the southwest, and finally his return to Hull last fall in apparent good health. Then, approximately a month ago, came a severe siege of pneumonia. After a slow recovery from this, complication of anemia set in with fatal results.

Surviving relatives who attended the funeral Saturday were the mother, Mrs. Maggie Stamper of Saint Louis, Mo., two sisters, Mrs. B. C. Alvord, Pueblo, Colo., Mrs. J. T. Frent of St. Louis, and brother, E. A. Stamper of St. Louis, and an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. J. Rall of Beemer, Neb., and their son. The mother and brother were at the bedside during the last weeks of Mr. Stamper’s illness.

The Hull post of the American Legion, of which Prof. Stamper was a member and past commander, had charge of the funeral Saturday. Rev. G. H. Douwstra of the First Reformed church and Rev. O. A. Stoppels of the American Ref. church, conducted the services. Interment was made at Hope cemetery, Hull.

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The Sioux County Cemetery Index has Stamper, Frank J., 31 Dec 1929, Am Leg Air Serv, Hope Cem Hull IA. The Iowa Gravestones photo project has a photo of his headstone confirming his name as Frank J. Stamper.

His death certificate gives his name as John F. Stamper (the informant was his mother); born August 3, 1883 in Clearfield, Iowa; parents William Stamper, born in Joliet, Ill., and Maggie Cabaret, born in Mt. Ayr, Iowa; occupation, Supt. Schools, 18 years; wife Valeska Stamper; died in the Hull Hospital at 7:00 a.m., December 31, 1929; cause, brain tumor, also had pernicious anemia; had received a blood transfusion on December 15.

His State of Washington marriage certificate on Ancestry.com gives his name as Frank J. Stamper; married Valeska Kirchoff, daughter of Julius Kirchoff and Agnes Stonewater, at Vancouver on June 10, 1918.

The marriage register for Ringgold County, Iowa, has him as J. F. Stamper, age 28, residence Remsen, occupation teacher; married Anabel Kimball, age 21, born in Illinois, parents L. B. Kimball and Josie Holland, at Mt. Ayr, Iowa, December 27, 1911.

FindaGrave.com also has an entry for Valeska Sophia Kirchoff Stamper Humma, died in Mesa, Arizona on 21 July 1990, aged 98, buried in the Remsen Cemetery (Iowa) with her parents, Julius and Agnes Kirchoff. It includes a transcription of an obituary that identifies her as Mrs. O. B. Humma, but gives no information about either of her husbands. It also include a transcription of an article in the Le Mars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, July 2, 1918, p. 2, about her marriage (in Portland, Oregon) to Lieutenant Frank J. Stamper, stationed with the Signal Corps in Vancouver.