Delores “Dee” Kamler (Stadler)

Dee was born to Sidney and Carrie Harris on February 7, 1932, and spent her early years living on a farm in Ravenna, MI. At the age of 10, her family moved into town, where she graduated from Ravenna High School in 1950. She married John Stadler, also of Ravenna, on December 4, 1950. Dee worked at a hardware store while John was in the navy and later as an assistant in a doctor’s office where she loved helping people. She went on to attend the Muskegon School of Business and put her education to work as a bookkeeper and administrative assistant in various jobs over her lifetime.

Dee and John had three children: Cindy (Ronald) LaMere of Webb City, John “Kip” (Kathy) Stadler of Olympia, WA, and Robert (Jill) Stadler of Buffalo, MO.

In 1968, the family pulled up stakes and moved to Champion, Michigan. While in Champion, she worked for several years at a furniture store in Ishpeming and owned and operated the Village Market in Champion from 1971 to 1975.

In 1977, after the children had graduated from high school, Dee and John moved to Joplin, MO, and operated Stadler-LaMere accounting until they were divorced in 1984.

After the divorce, Dee found solace and happiness in riding horses with friends. During this time, Dee worked as a bookkeeper at the Webb City Sentinel, in Webb City, MO. She loved working there and interacting with the public. While at the Sentinel, Dee met her second husband, Curtis Kamler, a retired industrial arts teacher.

Dee and Curtis were married in January 1991. She welcomed Curtis’s two sons, Larry (Paula) Kamler of Webb City and Bill (Kathy) Kamler of Columbia, MO, and their children into her family with open arms. Dee and Curtis happily spent the next 21 years together until Curtis’ death in 2013. During that time, they travelled across the country in their motor home visiting areas as wide spread as Miami, FL and Olympia, WA. They really enjoyed their time on the road and especially enjoyed traveling south for the winter, be it to Texas or Florida where they would make friends at each stop they made. They were always open to adventure as illustrated by the trip they made to Central America to visit her son John and his wife Kathy at a remote research laboratory on the Pacific Coast of Panama. While there, she provided much needed comfort to two young American men who had just lost a friend in a tragic accident.

Dee had a big heart and always welcomed new members to the family, regardless of where they came from. She was deeply loved by her family and took special pride in, and great delight in visiting, all of her many grandchildren and great grandchildren, who called her “Meme” or “Grandma Dee”.

Dee was a longtime members of the First Baptist Church in Webb City.

She is survived by her two sons Robert and John and their spouses; her stepsons Larry and Bill and their spouses; her younger sister Darlene Maycroft of Iron Mountain, MI, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Dee was preceded in death by her husband Curtis, her daughter Cindy and son-in-law Ronald, her parents Sidney and Carrie, her brother Louis Harris, her great-granddaughter Marlee Long, two grandsons Aaron Stadler and John Stadler, and her ex-husband John Stadler.