Late in life, a writer was born

By AMY RABIDEAU SILVERS
asilvers@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Jan. 6, 2006

At the age of 86, LaVerne Hammond did something that she always wanted to do.

LaVerne Hammond

Photo/Family Photo LaVerne Hammond

On the Web

Read some of Hammond's columns

She became a writer.

The turning point came as she attended the Florida Suncoast Writers' Conference in St. Petersburg with her daughter, Margo Hammond, book editor for the St. Petersburg Times.

"I'm so glad you became a writer, because that was my dream," she told her daughter.

Margo Hammond said: "Well, Mom, you can still be a writer. It's not like you wanted to be a ballerina."

Hammond began writing letters to family members as a sort of memoir. Then the perfect find at a rummage sale - and the kindness of a stranger - inspired a story about framing a photo of her late husband. She submitted it as a guest column to the St. Petersburg Times.

"She was 86, and it was her first published piece," Margo Hammond said.

"That editor liked it so much, she asked if she would write a monthly column for a senior section."

Hammond wasn't sure whether she could write something every month, but her daughter encouraged her to try another piece, just to see how long it might take her.

"She wrote three pieces her first day trying," Margo Hammond said.

Hammond continued writing for six years, even as her health was failing.

"Her last piece - a letter to her first great-grandchild - will run this month," her daughter said. "She made her last deadline, and she was a writer to the end."

Hammond died Tuesday of kidney failure. She was 92.

A longtime Kenosha resident, she moved to Shorewood to be closer to her family, finding the perfect apartment across from the library and the Shorewood Senior Resource Center. She also began spending part of the year in St. Petersburg with her daughter, which led to her late-in-life writing.

The former LaVerne Nordstrom graduated from high school in Kenosha at 16. She first wanted to be a doctor, but applying to medical school was not an option for girls in 1930. Then she was told she was too young to be a nurse.

"So she went to business school in Chicago," Margo Hammond said, "and then to night school for journalism at Northwestern University for two years."

The Depression interfered with school plans, and the young woman began working at jobs that included switchboard operator, secretary and accountant. She was working as assistant head of payroll and accounting at Great Lakes Naval Station when she again met Paul Hammond. They had dated once while in high school.

The couple married in 1945.

The next decades were filled with raising their family and lots of volunteer work at their church and elsewhere. When the parish priest called, telling her that she was being "given the honor" of leading the church women's group, she didn't want the job. Instead, Hammond said she had a new job, and he asked where. The Kenosha school system, she said.

"She got off the phone and thought, 'My God, I've lied to a priest,' " her daughter said.

To make a long story short, she decided to try to get a job with the school system. Soon, Hammond was working as head of the English Resource Center at Tremper High School, helping students with their writing.

She worked until the mandatory retirement age and then kept busy with volunteer and other activities.

Her readers in St. Petersburg sometimes heard about life in Milwaukee.

One column told of how she always wanted to try yoga but was too timid to be the old person in the group. Her chance came with an "Ageless Yoga" class at the senior resource center.

Another column told of her experience at Harley-Davidson's 100th birthday bash.

"The bikers invited us to see their bikes up close and personal," she wrote. "One was truly an artistic expression on wheels. . . . I stood there admiring every detail.

"Suddenly, the man said to me, 'Would you like to go for a ride?' "

She loved her ride on the Harley.

"I gave my driver a hug and told my newfound friend that the rev of a motorcycle will now always remind me of a warm, beating heart," she wrote.

In addition to Margo Hammond, LaVerne Hammond is survived by daughters Joan Whipp, Diane Kavalauskas and Renee Hammond, grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Visitation is set for 10 a.m. today until the funeral service at 11 a.m., both at Three Holy Women Parish-St. Hedwig Church, 1704 N. Humboldt Ave.

Some of LaVerne Hammond's columns can be read online at http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/results.html?QryTxt=%22laverne+hammond%22.