Elizabeth L Hammar

Elizabeth “Betty” Hammar, 94, of Moline, went home to be with her Lord on October 5, 2016 at Amber Ridge Assisted Living in Moline. In her last hours she was lovingly surrounded by her family. Services will be 10 a.m., Monday, at Wendt Funeral Home, 1811 15th Street Place, Moline. Visitation is at Wendt Funeral Home and will precede the services, from 9-10 a.m. Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery with a luncheon to follow at First Evangelical Free Church, 3321 7th Street, Moline. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Ribbons for Kelsey for the John C. Hammar Seizure Pillow Fund, which provides special pillows to those with epilepsy. Betty was the only child of Roy and Anna (Lundquist) Anderson, born in Moline on March 31, 1922. She had a wonderful childhood growing up on 7th Street in East Moline. She moved with her parents to 14th Street in Moline in 1933. From that point, she attended schools in Moline including John Deere Junior High School where she was awarded the American Legion Student Award. She went on to graduate salutatorian from Moline High School in 1940. She attended Augustana College for two years and then transferred, along with her good childhood friend Bette Sundin, to the University of Iowa where she completed her degree in piano. She studied under renowned instructor Philip Greeley Clapp and was an accomplished pianist who was able to play by ear and create delightful arrangements of great American standards. After graduating from the University of Iowa, she decided to step out in faith and seek a career in Chicago. She took a job with the Equitable Insurance Company in the Palmolive Building and resided at the YWCA where she was later joined by her 7th Street chum, Alice Johnson. There were regular card parties for residents of the YWCA and the nearby YMCA which housed many returning service men. It was at one of these card parties where she met Roy Arthur Hammar, a Chicago native and officer in the Army Air Force just coming back after serving three years in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was staying at the YMCA temporarily because his parents had rented out his bedroom at home. Betty and Roy were married on November 9th, 1946 at Emanuel Lutheran Church in East Moline and set up their home in LaGrange, Illinois where they had three sons: John Charles, Richard Roy and Thomas William. In the mid-1950s Roy was transferred by AT&T to their New York City headquarters, and the family moved to the small bedroom community of Hohokus, New Jersey. Sadly, Roy developed leukemia and the family moved back to Springfield, Illinois to be closer to home. Roy passed away in 1961 and Betty and her three young boys moved back to Betty’s hometown of Moline. Tragically, Betty lost her oldest son John in his sleep to an epileptic seizure on December 29, 1967. This was a heart-breaking loss for Betty and took a large toll on her. She was an extremely sensitive person and experienced many wonderful highs and more than her share of devastating lows during her life. In addition to her wonderful musical gifts, she was a skilled writer, a person with a great sense of humor and intellect, and was a loyal and devoted mother, grandmother, daughter, and friend. She was very proud of her Swedish heritage and would make a wonderful Swedish smorgasbord for her family each Christmas. In her later years, she derived great pleasure in walking along the Ben Butterworth Parkway in Moline and would walk up to 6 miles daily. She was extremely gracious and would light up any room that she entered. Betty never met a stranger, always wanting to strike up a conversation with people she met. Preceding Betty in death were her parents, her husband Roy, son John, and three cousins of whom she was very fond: Helen Slater, Meem Horst and Colleen Holmgren. She leaves behind two sons and daughters-in-law, Richard and Christine (Springfield, MO) and Tom and Susan (Moline); five grandchildren, Rachel Hammar (Los Angeles, California), Abe Hammar (Dalian, China), Molly (Scott) Shattuck (Moline), Holly (Joseph) Lear (Iowa City), and John (Karen) Hammar (Cedar Rapids); seven great grandchildren, Samantha Fessler, Brady Shattuck, Kaden Hammar, Lazarus Lear, Nora Shattuck, Izzy Hammar, and Matteo Pascali; and one niece, Janice Hammar (Kansas City, MO). The family would like to thank the devoted staff at Amber Ridge Assisted Living in Moline for the loving care given to Betty during her final 8 ½ years.

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