John Fredric Kummer

John Fredric Kummer was born in Montgomery, Alabama on February 5, 1944 to Alfred Fritz (Fred) Kummer and Mabel Margaret Crumbaker (Kummer). John was the first born and only son. As a boy, he was extremely active in Boy Scouts, achieving the level of Eagle Scout, but his true love was the arts. He graduated from Indian Springs School in Helena, Alabama in 1962, and then received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, from Auburn University in 1966. He was a great student and was a member of several scholastic honorary societies. He attended Duke University during the 1970's and this was where his love for the arts really took shape. He participated in multiple acting productions with The New Theater, Inc. in Durham, North Carolina, including a role as “Mr. Toad” in the Wind and the Willows, and “Teddy Brewster” in Arsenic and Old Lace, with raving reviews of both parts. He was integral in helping with the startup of “The Durham Children's Theatre” because he felt so strongly about children having an opportunity and experience to have a creative outlet.

In addition to the arts, John was also involved in graduate research studies and co-author to many scholarly publications in the research field of avian pathology, avian bacteriology, experimental surgery and cancer research and pediatric infectious disease. A few of these scholastic publications can be found in the New England Journal of Medicine , Journal of Infectious Diseases , and Journal of Clinical Microbiology . John loved learning and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, from the University of Washington in 1988, and it was during his time there that he fell in love with Seattle, and decided to make this his home. He was also a poet, and had many poems published in literary journals such as Bellowing Ark , The Duckabush Journal , Pleiades , and Poetry Northwest . John spent much of his life as a Lab Tech for multiple hospitals and corporations, and was great at this due to his impeccable organizational skills. He had just recently retired from Lab Corp prior to his death.

He is survived by a sister, Linda K. McDonnell (Michael), and a niece, Abbie Blackman (James), and nephew, Logan Hurst. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Mabel Kummer.

No memorial service is planned at this time; however, his family would love to hear from friends, acquaintances, and work associates who have stories to tell about John! You are welcomed and encouraged to reach us personally at: Kummer2005@yahoo.com , and/or share on his Tribute Wall, located above.

Last Leaf
The oak celebrates
with just one leaf left,
a foretaste of older veins.
Cold is not the only shock;
wind and rain work at it,
pounding at the heart.
When you left, I thought:
can anything be this wild,
as good as holding on?
You’ve said this for ages,
how it is possible,
even desirable, to be the last
leaf on the tree,
a final page waiting to turn.

-John Kummer

- Care & Arrangements Entrusted to Emmick Family Funeral Home of West Seattle -