Cleo Mae Hammer

HAMMER, Cleo Mae
Climax Passed away Saturday, February 4, 2012. Cleo was born January 2, 1927 in Battle Creek, a daughter of Clare and Leona Jacoby and was a lifelong resident of the Climax/Battle Creek area. She graduated from Battle Creek Central High School in 1945 and married Maynard Hammer in 1948. Cleo was a Climax mail carrier for over 20 years and was a school bus driver for Climax-Scotts and Harper Creek Schools. She loved traveling, cruising, gardening, playing cards, telling jokes, making clothes for her girls Barbie dolls and taking car rides on the back roads. She was a member of the Climax American Legion Auxiliary, 4H, where she taught sewing, and was a volunteer at Binder Park Zoo. Cleo earned her pilot's license in her teens to join her father and husband in flying. She is survived by her daughters, Marcia Bill Lewis, Linda Tom DeLong all of Climax, Marri Hammer Walt Eccleston of Conroe, TX; grandchildren, Brian Lewis, Stephen Johnson, James DeLong, Corey Woods, Shawn Woods, Amanda Woods and Justin Woods; great grandchildren, Ella Lewis and Wyatt Lewis; special friends, Barbara Donovan and Jenny Hess. Cleo will be greatly missed by all of her family and her friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Maynard, in 1993; her parents; an infant sister, Beverly Jacoby; her step-mom, Maxine Jacoby; a son, Michael John Hammer; a great grandson, Evan Lewis; and a special friend, Bud Pierce. Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 11:00 AM in the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Climax Chapel, 205 East Maple St., with Minister Scott Burdick, officiating. Interment will follow in Roof Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 3-7 PM and on Thursday, beginning at 9:30 AM until service time. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, the West Michigan Cancer Center or the Calhoun County Humane Society.