Keith Otto Ammon and wife Florence (Moser) Ammon
- Keith Curfman
- Jan 6
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 6
Keith Otto Ammon on is wedding day with Florence Kathryn (Moser) Ammon.
Keith Otto Ammon was born on July 26, 1914 to Fred Otto and Lela Bell (Washburn) Ammon in Stanfordville, PA. He had blue eyes and his blond hair as a child turned dark as an adult.
Keith had one sister, Thelma, who he remained close to his entire life.
Keith moved to Lewisburg, PA from upstate Pennsylvania where his father worked various jobs, including the old milk plant and for 25 years at the Lewisburg chair factory, better known as Pennsylvania House.
Keith left school during his senior year to go to work. He worked on various farms in the area and then finally went to Philadelphia and worked and lived with his aunt Mary Emes. Later he got a job as a binder for a publishing company in Philadelphia.
Keith had his first date in 1932 with Florence. It was a double date. Keith was to pick up Florence at a prearranged time and take her to see the play "Penrode and Sam". Keith was late and Florence and her friend, Martha Stockdale, wen to the play without them. They walked almost to West Milton before the guys came driving along in Keith's Model A Ford.
Two years later, in 1934, Keith and Florence were married in the living room of the Moser homestead. Approximately 30-40 relatives and friends attended the wedding and reception held at the farm. Florence remembered buying her gown in Sunbury and she carried a bouquet of roses, ferns and baby's breath. Keith had bought two suits, a grey one and a brown one, earlier so he wore the grey one to the wedding (the one he didn't like the best. He had paid $12.50 for the 3 piece suit.
Keith's sister, Thelma, was the maid of honor. She wore a pale blue gown and carried a bouquet of lilies of the valley. Merman, Florence older brother, was the best man. Keith and Florence didn't go on a honeymoon. They drove back to Philadelphia the same day to be ready to go to work Monday morning. Florence worked for Aunt Mary and Keith worked at the publishing company. Later that year they took a trip to the World's Fair.
Keith and Florence lived on Mt. Vernon Street in Philadelphia. Keith had an Oldsmobile car and later bought a ford coupe. They continued to live in Philadelphia for 4 more years.
In January, 1935, their first son Frederick Clyde was born in Philadelphia.
In 1938, Florence and Keith moved back to the farm where Florence had been born and they took up farming. They purchased the farm for $11,000.
Florence Katherine was born on February 9, 1914 to Peter and Hattie Belle (Klapp) Moser. Florence had brown eyes and blond hair. Florence was born on the farm in Milton, PA, that later became the family home of Keith and Florence.
Florence was very bright and did well in school. Florence spent her early childhood on the farm. Florence graduated from Milton High School in 1932 as a top student of her class. She was a good speller and history student. Keith and Florence started dating their senior year in high school. Keith nicknamed Florence "Mutt" from "Mutt and Jeff".
In July 1941, Alvin Richard, who was known as Dick, was born.
One year later, the first daughter Florence Carol (my mother) was born on August 17.
Dick and Carol were a big help on the farm. My mother told stories of them playing cowboys and indians, riding the pigs and goats, and swimming in the pond with the cows.
Keith was a good hunter. Below is a picture of Florence and the kids standing by one of Keith's prize kills.
The sibblings seemed to really enjoy their life on the farm.
Keith and Florence often had visitors from both sides of the family. Keith's grandmother, Ida Springer Ammon (Fred's mother) was a very Christian woman. She had a little apartment in Lewisburg, and apparently died sitting up in her chair, according to a story told by Carol Ammon Curfman.
Keith was closest to his mother and sister.
His sister, Thelma, married a man named Frank, and we would visit them in Cape May, NJ and when they moved to Florida.
Ammon family reunions were a frequent event in the 1940's and 50's, often at Keith's farm. Knoebles was another place that the family held reunions.
Keith was a very good farmer, and in the 1950's, he received the "farmer of the year" award for Montour county. This was the Moser (Florence's parents) farm. It had 135 acres of land and the house had 14 rooms and 2 baths, and had been built in the early 1800s. A second farm was purchased when the couple was 29 years old, giving them 300 acres.
Neither Keith, nor Florence were drinkers, but Keith did enjoy a cigar. Carol told a story of how Keith would blow cigar smoke into their ears if they got infected. Florence enjoyed a glass of white wine on occasion.
In August 1946, the last child was born, named Linda. Most of these notes and memories come from a document that Linda wrote.
Keith and Florence were very fond of dogs and you can see Florence pictured with dogs from the time she was very young. When I was young, in the 1980s, Keith and Florence had a sheep dog named Bobby. Bobby unfortunately was hit on the road and is buried up on the hill above their home.
Another of Keith's pastimes was sitting at his pond or riding his lawn mower around his property. He would take my sister (Megan) and I on rides or teach us to fish in the pond.
Keith had many skills, in addition to farming. Despite not finishing school, he would go on to do a number of jobs and be very successful at all of them. One of those jobs was building homes. Keith built a total of 4 homes in his life. Two were in Montandon. Keith built a home for his parents.
In 1957 Keith and Florence started to build a new home in the wooded site along Route 45 in Milton. Keith cut and lumbered most all the wood that went into building the house. Linda remembered the whole family helping to lay the wood floors, put up molding, hang doors and varnishing. The home was finished in 1959. The design of the house was picked by Dick.
The oldest boy, Freddie, did not live in the home for long before he passed away at the age of 18 from a blood clot during surgery. Freddie was helping to move a freezer that accidentally fell on his foot. He was in a full body cast and could not be visited by his siblings because they were not old enough. My mother told me about standing outside his hospital window and the nurse or his parents would hold up a mirror so that he could see his siblings.
Dickie would pass away a few short years later from muscular dystrophy. My mother told a story of how Dickie was in a wheel chair in his later teens and during one occasion, some people and their children were visiting. One of the young kids was getting too close to the fireplace and Dickie tipped his wheel chair over to keep the child from getting in the fire.
I never remember Keith and Florence talking about their sons when I was growing up. I imagine it was still too painful for them. Linda said that when the hospital called to tell them that Dickie had died, Keith, Florence, Linda and Carol went to separate parts of the house to grieve alone. She said it was very hard and that no one really talked about grief back then.
Keith and Florence sold the farms in the early 1960s and retired from farming.
In 1967 they bought a big mobile home camper which provided them a home on a number of vacations over the next few years. Florida was one of the first vacation places they headed for. They also visited Nassau in the Bahamas for Linda's wedding in 1968.
My mother, Carol, married my father in 1978 at a beautiful outdoor wedding in Shippensburg, PA, and two years later, I was born. Keith rushed to the hospital in Altoona to get one of the first glimpses of me and learn that I was named after him. Actually, as the story goes, my mother announced to my grandfather that I would be named after him before discussing it with my dad (Walter). I don't think that went over well.
My sister, Megan, and I brought both Keith and Florence a lot of joy in their later years.
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