Walter J. Behmer

Walter J. Behmer The Old Brakeman -- Walter J. Behmer, retired Gen. Supt., The Pennsylvania Railroad - EPISTLES FROM PAP: LETTERS FROM THE MAN KNOWN AS 'THE WILL ROGERS OF INDIANA' by Andrew E. Durham. Compiled by J. Frank Durham, edited by Douglas Hay

1925 - jAN 3 - W. J. BEHMER TO INDIANAPOLIS FOR PENNSY

Assistant Trainmaster to Take Position Effectire at Once.

Walter J. Behmer, assistant trainmaster on the Logansport division of the Pennsylvania railroad, has been transfered to the Indianapolis division where hE will hold a similar position with headquarters at Indianapolis.

The order is effective at once and Mr. Behmer has already taken up the duties of his new appointment.

The place left vacant by the transfer of the local man has not been filled. Officers here have not been notified as to whether a new man will be named for the place or not.

Mr. Behmer has been connected with the Logansport division of the Pennsylvania since the abolishment of the South Bend division one year ago.

He was an assistant trainmaster on the South Bend division, having been promoted from a position as engineman to assistant road foreman of engines and then to the assistant trainmasters place. He bas held the latter rank for about four years.

Not to Move Now.

The transfer of the local man will result in the change of residence of the Behmers. However, they do not expect to move to Indianapolis until next fall. Their children will continue in school here until the end of the term and the family will spend the summer at Lake Maxinkuckee as usual.

The Behmers reside at 204 West Linden avenue. Both Mr. and Mrs. Behmer have been very active in social and civic life of Logansport for some time.

Mr. Behmer has served as joint state senator from Cass and Fulton counties for the last two terms, his last term expiring Dec. 31, 1924. -- Pharos-Tribune

Walter J. Behmer, assistant trainmaster, on April 26, 1929

1942 - Jan 28 - Walter Behmer to Retire

Walter J. Behmer, Long Point cottager, will retire, Feb. 1st as assistant to their vice president of the Pennsylvania railroad at Indianapolis

He has been with the railroad for 43 years.

He plans to spend the winters at Fort Lauderdale and his summers at Lake Maxinkuckee, maintaining his legal residence here. - Citizen

1948 - Oct 15 - Walter J. Behmers Celebrate Their 50th Wedding Anniversary

One of Culver's finest couples Mr. and Mrs. Walter J. Behmer of 1010 West Shore Drive, will celebrate their Golden Anniversary on Saturday Oct 18, with a family dinner at the Marrott Hotel in Indianapolis

The Behmers were married in Chicago and have resided in Indianapolis, and Logansport and have been Lake Maxinkuckee summer residents for the past 39 years.

They have two daughters Mrs Virgil Hebert of Indianapolis and Mrs. R. W. Batts of Chicago; and two sons Eugene of Indianapolis and RIchard of Fort Benning, Ga.

Mr. and Mrs. Behmer plan to leave next week for Fot Lauderdale, FLa. where they will spend the winter as is their usual custom.

Mr. Behmer is a retired railroader and is a former Republican member of the Indiana State Senate in which legislative body her served with distinction

1963 - Mar 27 - Walter J . Behmer, Summer Resident, Dies At Age 86

Walter J. Behmer, of 1010 West Shore Drive, Culver , died Friday night in an Evanston (Ill.) hospital.

Mr. Behmer was returning from the Mayo Brothers Hospital at Rochester, Minn., where he had been under treatment for a heart ailment, to his winter home at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Traveling with him were his widow, Mrs. Nora Behmer, a son, Eugene L. Behmer of Indianapolis, and a daughter. Mrs. R. W. Butts of Prospect, Ill.

Mr. Behmer, a four-time member of the Indiana General Assembly and former chairman of the Associated Railways of Indiana, was a native of Logansport and lived in Indianapolis more than 15 years while an associated Railways official.

He was a member of the state legislature from 1917 to 1923. first as a member of the House of Representatives and two terms as a senator, representing Cassand Fulton Counties.

Before joining the staff of Associated Railways at Indianapolis, Mr. Behmer was assistant trainmaster for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Logansport. He was with the railroad 38 years and had been with both the railroad and the association more than 50 years when he retired in 1942.

Mr. Behmer was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, having been a first sergeant with the Indiana, Voluntary Infantry. He was also a member of the Columbia Club and Country Club of Indianapolis, the Masonic Lodge. Knights Templar. Elks Lodge and United Spanish War Veterans at Logansport, and the Shrine at Fort Wayne.

Mr. Behmer and his wife have maintained a summer home on Lake-Maxinkuckee for many years and after Mr. Behmer's retirement they spent part of their time in Culver and their winters in Fort Lauderdale.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the McCloskey- Hamilton-Kahle Funeral Home at Logansport. Burial was in the Mount Hope Cemetery there.

Survivors, in addition to those with Mr. Behmer at the time of his death, are another daughter, Mrs. Virgil Hebert of Indianapolis; two sisters, Mrs. Sam Campbell of Indianapolis and Mrs. James Rhine of Logansport; a brother, Harry Behmer of Portland, and three grandchildren.

Mt. Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Indiana BEHMER Nora M 1888 1974 28 APR 1974 aet 85 Section 12 Lot 0646 Space 02 BEHMER Walter J. 1877 1963 28 MAR 1963 aet 86 Sectio 12 Lot 0646 Space 01