Teacher's Desk Tombstone - Keene, NH
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 56.878 W 072° 18.939
18T E 718987 N 4758533
Teacher's Desk Tombstone is located in Monadnock Mountain View Cemetery in Keene, NH. The cemetery is open during daylight hours only.
Waymark Code: WMM518
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2014
Views: 5
A fitting tribute to a dedicated teacher. This monument is sculpted to resemble a classroom desk. The front has the family name GEMMEL. To one side of the desk is a stack of books labelled: Poetry, O Pioneers, Webster's, and Holy Bible. A red apple completes the grouping. To the left is a bronze plaque. It is inscribed:
Travels with
Charlotte
Van Vleck Gemmel
Sept. 22, 1920
March 1, 2003
"There is no frigate like a book
to take you lands away"
Emily Dickinson
Adjacent to the desk is a rock with a bronze plaque for her husband, Fay Lincoln Gemmel, who died in 2013.
Her biography published by the New England Conference of The United Methodist Church reads:
A dedicated and admired educator, Charlotte
received this tribute from one of her students: “Some
teachers are all right. Some teachers are good. Some
teachers are very good, but you are BETTER!"
Charlotte was born in Clearwater, Nebraska on
September 22, 1920 to Ethel (Graham) and Charles Van
Vleck. She graduated from Neligh (NE) High School in
1939, attended the University of Nebraska School of
Social Work, and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1943
from Nebraska Wesleyan University. Several years later,
she earned an M.A. at Keene State College.
Charlotte was an elementary school teacher in Keene for 28 years. An early advocate for women’s rights, she presented dramatic monologues in period costume as Sarah Josephus Hale and Willa Cather. Charlotte also wrote articles about Ms. Cather and about her own travels. She continued to be an avid reader, children’s poetry enthusiast, and school theater producer.
She married the Rev. Fay Gemmell in 1943, raised five children, and shared his ministry in churches in northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. While Fay became the campus minister at Keene State College, Charlotte was active at Grace UMC, Keene, a member of UMW there, the Cheshire County Retired Teachers’ Association,
Delta Kappa Gamma Society (Alpha Chapter,) and Keene Business and Professional Women’s Club.
After a period of declining health, Charlotte died on March 1, 2003. Her funeral was held on March 8 at Grace UMC, Keene, with the Revs. Jeff Kress and Paul Cullity officiating. Burial was in Mountain View Cemetery, Keene.