Muriel Hammer

Muriel E. (Baker) Hammer, 93, of Marblehead, MA, formerly of Austin, Minnesota and Philadelphia, PA, passed away at the Devereux House on Thursday, July 7, 2011. She was predeceased by her husband, Albert Hammer, of Philadelphia. Born September 16, 1917 in Ada, Minnesota, she was the daughter of the late Dr. Glenn L. Baker and Bessie (Nichols) Baker of Austin, Minnesota.

Muriel attended Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, and worked for many years as a librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia then as Research Librarian at Farm Journal, Philadelphia. Upon her retirement from Farm Journal in 1980, Muriel returned to Minnesota to care for her mother and mother-in-law. She moved to Marblehead in 1991.

Muriel was an avid gardener, and delighted in bird watching and nature. She was a volunteer at The Nature Center in Austin, MN and was a member of the Garden Club there. She was a skilled seamstress who sewed and crocheted quilts and did craftwork. She was devoted to her family and her gentle, kind and loving heart and wisdom enriched the lives of all who knew her.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Glenn and Denise Hammer of Marblehead; and her grandchildren, Jesse Hammer and Melissa Wells, of Bar Harbor, ME; Nathaniel Hammer of Beverly; and Jonathan Hammer of Marblehead.

Funeral services will be private. Arrangements by the Eustis and Cornell Funeral Home, Marblehead. Expressions of sympathy may be made in her memory to Friends of Marblehead's Abandoned Animals, 44 Village Street, Marblehead, MA 01945 and the Church of St. Andrew, 135 Lafayette Street, Marblehead.