Gertrude Sammann (Plainview)

Gertrude Alma Schreiber Sammann, 93, of Plainview, was called home to be with her Lord and Savior at 12:50 a.m. Wednesday, May 27, 2009, at the Plainview Healthcare Center. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 30, 2009, at St. Paul Lutheran Church with the Rev. Gerald Boerger, pastor, officiating. Interment will follow in Plainview Memorial Park by Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. Gertrude was born June 15, 1915, in the Honey Flat Community near Hillsboro, Texas. She was the second of five children born to Otto and Lydia Neumann Schreiber. Gertrude moved to Hale County with her parents when she was 10 years old. She went to school through the eighth grade and then went to work on the farm. She picked cotton for her dad and helped her mother in the house and yard. They farmed southeast of Plainview and were members of Trinity Lutheran Church in the Providence Community. Gertrude was 14 years old when the Great Depression began. Gertrude met her future husband, Albert Sammann, at church. They started to date when she was 15 years old. They went rabbit hunting on their dates and also went to church activities together. They married when Gertrude was 19 and Albert was 22. Their marriage took place on Aug. 18, 1934, at the Lutheran parsonage in Wilson, Texas. They were married 72-1/2 years. Gertrude’s life was always about her faith, family and hard work. She and Albert farmed side by side northeast of Plainview in the Prairieview community. Even as a grandmother, she still picked cotton by hand until they purchased a cotton stripper in the 1960s. She also made sure that her grandchildren knew how to use a hoe and work. She would take them to the field with her early in the mornings to chop weeds. About midmorning, they would go home and Gertrude would prepare the noon meal. Should would take them back to the field after it cooled off in the evening, and then go home and cook a late supper. Gertrude had a beautiful yard. She always grew a large vegetable garden and did a lot of canning. Gertrude loved to order all kinds of flowers from catalogs and had every type of flower that could be grown in the area. Cooking was Gertrude’s specialty. She was known as an excellent cook by everyone in her church and community. Every meal at Gertrude’s house was like a Sunday dinner. She baked a chocolate cake every day for her children so that they could have it after school. Lemon meringue pie was one of her most requested desserts. She still was preparing potluck meals for her church until she was in her mid- 80s. Gertrude was active in her church. She had a large home and hosted an African missionary as well as several visiting church choirs. She was a member of the Ladies Aid, helped with vacation bible school and taught Sunday school for a number of years before moving her membership to Christ Lutheran Church in Tulia. She later moved her membership to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Plainview. On May 17, 2008, Gertrude was honored by being named the Pioneer Woman of the Plains at the 80th Pioneer Round-Up held at the Ollie Liner Center. Following Albert’s death, their daughter, Virginia Ammons, drove Gertrude where she wanted to go and spent much of her time caring for her mother. Gertrude’s legacy will be that she always put her family’s and friends’ needs above her own. She showed God’s love by always serving others, not herself. She was the matriarch, disciplinarian and pillar of strength for her family. Her Christian example was seen by everyone and she will be deeply missed by all who loved her. She is survived by her four children, Virginia Ammons of Plainview, Barbara Valentino and her husband, Dick, of San Antonio, Elbert Sammann and his wife, Thelma, of Ulysses, Kansas, and Jess Sammann and his wife, Priscilla, of Plainview; seven grandchildren, Beverly and Bert Wall , Corinna Allen-Robison, Roxanne and Dale Williams, Leslie Sammann, Kurt Sammann, Jennifer and Jacob DeVries and Staci and Travis Barrett; 13 great-grandchildren, Kory and Jon Musquiz, Amber Williams, Nikki Jo Phillips, Brant Wall, Cole Williams, Brock Wall, Jamie Allen, Logan Robison, Mary Elizabeth Sammann, Rachel Sammann, Scout Sammann, Savannah Sammann and Jonathan Sammann; and one great-great-grandchild, Hallie Phillips. Gertrude was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Albert; a son-in-law, R.L. "Bob" Ammons; a daughter-in-law, Sharron Sammann; two brothers, Edwin Schreiber and Alvin Schreiber; and two sisters, Ella Schreiber and Ruby Schreiber. Visitation for family and friends will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 29, 2009, at Kornerstone Funeral Directors. The family suggests memorials to the van ministry or building fund at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 901 Oakland, Plainview, TX 79072 or the Area Community Hospice Inc., 3109 Olton Road, Suite "C" Plainview TX, 79072.