Honored by: | Bob and Margaret Blumenschein |
Brick location: | F:27 map |
Katherine Grace (Weeks) Blumenschein (Kittie) was born in a sod house near Quinter Gove County, Kansas March 18, 1886. When the homesteading was completed, the famiily moved back to Rhodes, Iowa where she completed high school and became an old-fashioned country school teacher, attending Cedar Falls Normal College each summer. She soon taught 'primary' in the Marshalltown Iowa Public School.
On Jan 1, 1913 she married Edward Blumenschein. Soon, he was an instructor of culverts in the Civil Engineering Dept of Iowa State. Later when the Hghway Commission separated from the Civil Engineering Dept., he chose the Dept. of Transportation.
Kittie was always a part of the Iowa State Faculty Women's Club and participated in many of the Home Ec 'Short Courses'. But her main contributions to life at Iowa State were her efforts in helping worthy but financially struggling students to succeed in their quest for degrees. There were several being helped at all times from about 1930 until her death in 1961. She was the mother of Bob Blumenschein '35 and Dr. John Blumenschein '40.
7/1/96