Mary Vollmer: My story is about my big brother, Herman John Vollmer, who was born Sept. 25, 1947, in Sedalia. Herman had dark brown hair, which was the color of his mother’s and he had an oval face more like his father. Herman was the oldest sibling in our family. He was a caring, adventurous brother, who was not afraid to learn something new.
I remember him as the big brother who taught us and helped us explore nature. Our favorite place was near an old abandoned homestead. We went through an open field to the creek bed and then to the homestead to see if there may be something new (for me blooming flowers and wildflowers). In the creek bed we would look for fish, frogs and other water creatures.
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