Miriam Duffelmeyer Blum Baur

A Memorial Service for Miriam Duffelmeyer Blum Baur will be held at one o’clock, Saturday, April 6 at the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, Kansas. Miriam died December 21, 2012, at the age of 97. Born Miriam Theodora Walters in Lamar, Missouri on September 16, 1915, she was the third child of Arthur Willard Walters and Ida May Gibson Walters. Miriam grew up in Pocatello, Idaho where she graduated from Pocatello High School as valedictorian of her senior class. A music major, she attended Pocatello University her freshman year then transferred to Drury College, Springfield, Missouri. Studying cello, she graduated magna cum laude in 1937.
At the age of 12 Miriam earned her first cello by playing at the local silent movie theater with other family members. By the age of 13 she was invited to play the cello with the Pocatello University Symphony. During her musical career Miriam played with the Springfield Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic and the Kansas City Symphony, the Medical Arts Symphony, Starlight Theater, Lyric Opera, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra and many quartet ensembles. She was a continuo soloist for the RLDS Messiah production for many years and taught cello in her home. She was also a lifetime member of the Alpha Sigma Iota Sorority.
Miriam’s many interests included politics, bridge, dancing, swimming, Shakespeare, reading, knitting, volunteering at Head Start, KU basketball and traveling. Her many travels took her to China, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, Fred G. Duffelmeyer, Harvey O. Blum and E. Jackson Baur, a son, Fred A. Duffelmeyer, a brother, Gibson Walters, a sister, Dr. Betty Ellis, a brother-in-law, Bob Leonard and a stepson, John Baur. Miriam is survived by her daughter, Barbara (Tom) Verhulst, a son, David Duffelmeyer and his wife Sandy, a daughter in law, Dr. Barbara Blakely, stepson Robert Blum and his wife Gwen Wiens, stepdaughter Joan Baur, three grandsons, Matt Verhulst and his wife Ann, Brian Duffelmeyer and his wife Stephanie, Andrew Duffelmeyer, two granddaughters, Beth Duffelmeyer Hult and her husband Chris, Emily Duffelmeyer and her husband Soren Anderson, two stepgrandsons, Nathaniel Blum and Jonathan Blum, eleven great grandchildren, a sister, June Leonard and three nephews and two nieces.
Miriam’s family thanks her many caregivers over the past nine years for their devotion, kindness and humor.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.