Lauer, Mae Evelyn Romer

Mae Evelyn Romer Lauer - age: 92
(January 21, 1921 to July 02, 2013 )
Resident of Fort Bragg, California

Obituary:
MAE EVELYN ROMER LAUER


Mae was born in Ukiah, CA on June 21, 1921 to Arthur and Leila Romer. She passed July 2, 2013 at her home in Ft. Bragg, CA after a short illness. The Romers had a sizeable ranch at the south end of the Ukiah valley. In 1909 the large, two-story barn with double silos, which still stands, was completed and the Romer Vista Dairy was started. Mae was born on the ranch and grew up surrounded by nature on this beautiful ranch where she ran her own trap line to raise money for school, tamed orphaned deer and learned many skills, such as gardening and perseverance. She would often quote her mother telling her, “You don’t know what you can do Maesie unless you try.” She was an active 4H member, learning and perfecting sewing, canning and more. A 4H motto that she lived by was “You can always make your best better.” Mae graduated from Ukiah High in 1939. She started college at the University of CA, Davis. When the WWII started, Mae left college to work and aid the war efforts. She found a job at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA, working on the Norton Bomb Site. It was there that she met and fell in love with her husband of 63 years, Phillip F. Lauer III. They were married three months after meeting. Phil was in the Army-Air Corps and soon sent to Greenland.

After the war they made their home in Sacramento, then Carmichael, and raised 5 children. Mae was a devoted wife and mother, teaching her children all that she could. She was an avid gardener. Vegetables, flowers and fruit were always abundant. She canned and froze as much as possible. She was active in PTA and the school library. She always had a hobby, raising parakeets and chickens, making jewelry, and growing orchids were just a few. Mae was a master seamstresss. She made a stunning hand-beaded wedding dress with matching tiara, men’s suits, drapes; she could sew anything. She became a member of the Orchid Society winning many honors. She worked 10 years for the DMV to help her children through college.

When Phil had retired and her family had grown it was time to go back to her roots. Having a love for the coast where she had spent a lot of time during her youth, she decided that she wanted to live in Ft. Bragg. She and Phil moved there in the early ‘80’s and purchased property next to her long-time friend, John Druecker. She started Lauer’s Rhododendron Nursery on Hwy 20 under the tutelage of John, and was very successful. Mae gave up orchids for rhododendrons, joining the Rhododendron Society and the Garden Club. Mae occasionally would try her hand a hybridizing rhododendrons. One turned out to be amazing! It was introduced, accepted, and named “Maesie”.

She became a member of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. She served on their Board of Directors for many years and started their fund-raising group, Friends of the Gardens. Mae was responsible for their propagating room and the begonias. Her hobbies became making Temari Balls and then shell balls and lavender eye pillows, donating them to the gift shop to raise money for FOG.

Mae was a person who, when she had a vision, she made it a passion. She was naturally creatively, a perfectionist and a go-getter when she knew something needed done. In her years with MCBG she was selflessly generous. She may have been short, but she was mighty! She was truly “Amazing Maesie.” ”.

Mae is preceded in death by her husband Phil, her parents, Arthur and Leila Romer, and her sister, Lila Romer Lee. Mae is survived by her sister, Margarett Romer Parducci, and her five children, Leah Lauer Middleton, Cathleen Lauer Molholm (Bob), Diane Lauer Harrison (Eric), Nancy Lauer Dorey (Jim) and Phillip F. Lauer IV (Susan), 7 grandchildren and 6, (soon to be 7) great grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Friends of the Gardens at MCBG, Mendocino Coast District Hospice or Hospice of Ukiah. A gathering of friends and family will be held at a later date.