Florence M. (Harmening) Kallem

Florence M Kallem (née Harmening) 96, of Elkhorn, WI died July 8, 2019 at Lakeland Health Care Center.  She was born July 30, 1922 in Palatine Illinois to the late William and Martha (Huehr) Harmening. She was the first of their six children. After graduating from Palatine high school, she studied at what is now the Lutheran Brethren Seminary near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Upon returning to Illinois, she enrolled and completed her education earning a nursing degree from Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago. She married Orrie Kallem (11-04-1918 to 12-06-2015) on July 19, 1952 on a day so hot the varnish from the chairs in the church basement stuck to the back of Orrie’s tuxedo. They had their first child, David, in November of 1953, Karen in 1957, and Susan in 1962. Shortly after, they moved out of Chicago to the suburb of Brookfield where they remained until they had both retired and moved to Bradenton, FL. Devout Christian people, their church family was their core social circle. No matter where they were, they always found an Evangelical Free Church to attend, often meeting people they knew from the many church conferences they attended across the country. Orrie and Florence moved back to the Midwest in 2000 on Florence’s insistence that she wanted to spend time with her children and grandchildren “before I go to the nursing home”! They moved to Lake Geneva, WI quickly making friends and settling in as members of Calvary Community Church. Ahead of her time, or perhaps of her time as a depression child, cod liver oil and apple cider vinegar with honey were given to her husband and children daily. However that was not enough to prevent the maladies of old age as both ended up needing nursing care. She outlived everyone in the immediate families of both her (3 brothers, one sister in law, 2 sisters and one brother in law) and her husband (4 brothers and their wives, 5 sisters and their husbands) along with her first born, David E. Kallem (11-01-1953 to 09-24-2009). Surviving her are Karen (Newcomb Ramsett) Kallem of Burlington, WI, Susan (Schwartz) Leason and husband, Charles of Plainfield IL, granddaughter Diana (Schwartz) Otstott and husband Edward of Minnooka IL and grandson, William Schwartz also of Minnooka. Florence will be remembered as a caring, loving mother and wife, and a strong woman of high moral values and integrity. There will be no formal services. Donations in her honor can be made to Lakeland Health Care Center.  On-line guestbook is at www.haaselockwoodfhs.com.  The Kallem family was assisted by Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Homes and Crematory of Elkhorn, WI.