Glenna Beatrice Rita Kerker

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Glenna Kerker was the oldest child of

She was born on 11 Oct. 1912 in St Paul, Minnesota. Glenna attended Wilson Junior High School and Derham High School, and majored in art at the College of St Catherine. She worked at the arts most of her life, keeping up at her drawing even when she was employed in other areas.

In June 1941, Glenna married Robert Stanley Van Keuren at St Columba Church in St Paul. They had three children:

In 1946 Robert left the family and Glenna moved with her children back to St Paul, into the home of her mother Sophie.

Glenna was an intelligent, kind, open-hearted person, well beloved by all. She worked as a bookkeeper most of her life, although her first love was art, which she continued, doing landscapes and portraits in charcoal, pastels, and oil. In later years, she increased her art work, doing sketches in the parks and at art festivals.

Glenna suffered from cancer three times in her life. The original breast cancer discovered in the '50's eventually spread, and she died of cancer in April, 1981, spending her last several months in the home of her son Tom and his wife in Los Angeles.


Updated 2 May 1996. Send suggestions and corrections to Robert Steven van Keuren, [email protected]