Remembering Kem Widmer
“Because of Kem I will never study a piece of antique furniture without first turning over onto its head to look at the underside. He was a tremendous mentor in his quiet and thoughtful way. His wisdom, tremendous fund of knowledge and his inquisitive mind will be missed by so many.”
We recently lost a member of the Museum of Old Newbury family, and wanted to share a glimpse of the remarkable life of Kem Widmer with you, and to share our condolences with those who knew him. Kem, had been involved in the museum since retiring to Newburyport, but my memories of him go back even further, which seems hardly possible. I was fortunate enough to meet Kem and Betsy Widmer early in my career at Historic New England. I remember Kem as a big smile and endless curiosity. That smile, and his engineer’s eye for detail, will be sorely missed.
“I met him at Winterthur. I’m always happy to help, he said, and he was. All of his expertise, but you could call him and he would say, let’s figure it out together.”
Kem was instrumental in the transfer of the precious and iconic FRS Weathercock to the Museum of Old Newbury, and he was engrossed in a detailed study of the furniture collection at the museum with Alice Gould, Marc Cendron, and Sierra Gitlin when he passed away. Several of his colleagues and friends on the collections committee were kind enough to share their thoughts here, and Betsy Widmer shared cherished images of Kem.
“What comes to mind when I think about Kem, is what an exacting student and scholar of the American decorative arts he was. And how wholeheartedly he pursued his interests. He was a knowledgeable, thoughtful, generous, and genial contributor to the field, to Newburyport, and to the Museum of Old Newbury. We are indebted to him and will miss him. ”
“We went on a road trip to Connecticut. Members of the Pearson family had a remarkable collection of objects that they were interested in donating to the museum. Kem, Marc, Monica, and I piled into my minivan and drove through a pelting rain. All of my pictures from that trip are of the underside of chairs and close-ups of joints and the insides of drawers because he was always pointing at something and saying, look at THIS! with great excitement, and you had no choice but to drop to your knees and check it out!”
Read more about Kem’s remarkable life below, and please consider making a donation to the Museum of Old Newbury Collections Care Fund in his honor. Thank you.
Newburyport - Kemble Widmer II, age 85, of Newburyport, MA, passed away on Sunday the 12th of April, surrounded by his loving family.
Kem was born on February 7, 1941 in Trenton, NJ, to Dr. Kemble Widmer and Virginia "Ginny" Maiers. After spending most of his childhood in Pennington, NJ, Kem, an Eagle Scout, attended the Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va, where he was class valedictorian. He was a dual degree graduate of Lehigh University, with Bachelor's (1963) and Master's (1965) degrees in Industrial Engineering. After serving as a Captain Company Commander in the United States Army, he began his career with Warner & Swasey Company in King of Prussia, PA, and later moved to Gastonia, NC, where he founded and served as CEO of H&W Turbo Conveyor.
Kem had a passion for restoring old things to their original beauty, whether it was a 1964 GTO or a 1798 condemned house in Salem, MA, which he transported to Gastonia and rebuilt, or the 1797 Federal house in Newburyport, Massachusetts, which he painstakingly restored over a twelve year period after retiring to this coastal city. While serving in England during the Vietnam War, his commanding officer had asked Kem to "find a grandfather clock for my wife." That directive sparked Kem's passion for researching, authenticating and collecting early furniture. His sleuthing skills, together with his engineer's embrace of meticulous detail and exacting record keeping, helped this devoted, always curious, history-loving layman become a leading scholar in the forensic study of early cabinetmakers of the Massachusetts North Shore. His scholarship has been published in numerous articles and in 2014, in collaboration with the Peabody Essex Museum, he co-wrote the award-winning book, In Plain Sight, Discovering the Furniture of Nathaniel Gould, which accompanied the museum exhibition of the same title.
A Life Master in contract bridge, he had many passions including collecting, fly fishing, drag racing, the New York "Football" Giants, steam railroads, and cycling with his devoted cadre of fellow cyclists.
Kem loved his quarter century in Newburyport, and was generous with his time, enthusiasm, wisdom and support to numerous organizations including The First Religious Society, Historic New England, The Newburyport Preservation Trust, the Museum of Old Newbury, the Peabody Essex Museum and the North Shore Model Railroad Club.
Kem is survived by his wife, Betsy Garrett Widmer of Newburyport, his sister Kay Widmer of Titusville, NJ, his children from his first marriage, Lisa (Doug) Widmer Granat of Niwot, CO, and Kemble (Meriska) Widmer III of Crested Butte CO, his grandchildren Kelley, Elena, and Rowan Granat. Additionally, he leaves his stepchildren Abigail (Matt) Garrett Looft, Maria (Miguel) Garrett de Lievano, and Nathaniel (Michelle) Garrett.
Donations in memory of Kemble Widmer may be made to a nonprofit he loved: The Collections Care Fund at the Museum of Old Newbury, 98 High Street, Newburyport, Ma. 01950, attn. Bethany Groff Dorau; The Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970, attn. Daniel Lipcan; or the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection of the Winterthur Museum Library, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware 19735, attn. Brandy Watts.