Alma Klehm
Alma Elizabeth Klehm, 1876-1974: spirited, adventuresome, "full of the dickens" and Skokie's darling till the end.
In good weather, Alma rode her bike on the dirt roads to Morton Grove to catch the train for Chicago, where she attended Mayfair High School (Schurz). In bad weather, she walked. Upon graduation she qualified to teach school by passing a county exam.
After 19 years of teaching, Miss Alma went West, staked a claim, and worked it for three years. She learned to use a gun at this point, which was of use back home when her sister, Dr. Louise, was threatened by the "Black Hand," an extortionist gang. Alma rode shotgun for her when she made her house calls.
Always a free spirit, she traveled the country from Florida to Alaska.
Civic-minded, ever involved, Alma Klehm brought culture to the village. She served the community in many capacities--as Township treasurer, bank director, teacher, organizer of the school garden club, a charter member of the Niles Center Woman's Club, 1926, and its president in 1932-33.
