CAROLYN STURDIVANT BREMER
1922-2018
Native Houstonian, loving mother and wife, and defender of neighborhoods CAROLYN KNOX STURDIVANT BREMER passed away on Friday, July 6, 2018. She was born September 18, 1922, the oldest child of Celeste Rhodes Sturdivant and Emmanuel Wayne Sturdivant.
She spent her early years in the Montrose area until 1929 when the family bought a house on Wichita Street in Southeast Houston. After graduating from San Jacinto High School in 1938, she studied at Rice University, finishing in 1942 with a bachelor of arts with distinction. Throughout her life she cultivated a joy of learning and a passion for education.
She married fellow Rice graduate William E. (Billy) Bremer Jr. in 1941 and for a time they worked as resident managers of Autry House at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, living in an apartment above the House. After the war, she and Billy purchased a home on Dixie Drive and, in 1953, moved to Hatton Street in the Knollwood Village Subdivision of Southwest Houston. Here she and Billy raised their three children, Julia, Bill, and Carol. During much of her 65 years in Knollwood Village she remained an active participant in the Knollwood Village Civic Club.
A fearless woman with a keen intellect, she never hesitated to stand up for the rights of her family and neighbors. Fiercely independent and ever on the lookout for ways to help others, she seldom asked anything for herself. Blessed with robust health nearly her entire life, she enjoyed reading, bird watching, and gardening. A stoic to the end, she believed in soldiering on with whatever hardships came her way.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband William E. Bremer, her sister Eleanor Alice Sturdivant Taylor, her daughter Carolyn Rhodes Bremer Gamblin, and her uncle Omer (Jimmy) Rhodes.
She is survived by her daughter: Julia Bremer Baskett of Portland, Oregon; son: William W. Bremer and wife Patricia Schwab of Houston; five granddaughters: Celeste Baskett and husband Jeff Bennett of Portland, Oregon; Pamela Bremer Jackson and husband Marcus of Enoree, South Carolina; Laura Bremer Washam and husband Tom of College Station; Rachel Gamblin and Alex Kamber of Houston; and Sarah Gamblin of Los Angeles, California; great grandchildren: Jasper Rhodes Bennett, Iris Eleanor Bennett, and Connor Allen Jackson; niece: Ellen Hart and husband Jack of Houston; great-niece Heather Westerlage and husband Aristotle of Houston and their sons Zachary and Zane; cousins Suzanne Rhodes Casey and her daughters, Megan and Kathy, Claire Rhodes Stevenson and husband Steve of San Antonio and their two sons, Christopher, and Trevor.
She was loved by those who knew her. Her smiling eyes, her wide grin, and her joyful laugh will be greatly missed.
Family will be receiving friends on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, July 12, 2018 at 10:00 am with the burial to follow in the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.