Topeka woman recalls bracelet later found in Arizona desert
Viola Row remembers the bracelet that she bought for her sweetheart, Second Lieutenant George W. Zellers, sometime in the early 1940s while Zellers was in the Army getting ready to go to Europe to fight in World War II.
Row — formerly Viola Richter, a member of Holton High School’s Class of 1944 — doesn’t remember where she bought the bracelet, which bears the inscription, “With love, Viola,” on the back. But she remembers the man she bought the bracelet for, and her face still lights up when she sees pictures of him.
Today, the 87-year-old Row lives in Topeka, and upon being told that the bracelet was recently discovered in the Arizona desert near the site of a 1944 air crash that claimed the lives of Zellers and 16 others, she was happy to know that it had been found. She still looks at images and stories of Zeller from time to time, remembering their times together.
“She can remember it, but it’s just hard to talk,” said her son, Paul Hamm, noting that Row suffered a stroke three years ago that nearly completely robbed her of her ability to speak. She uses an iPad to communicate, typing out words on its screen when needed.
The search for Row and her memories of the bracelet were triggered by its discovery by Arizona resident Robert Kropp, who recently contacted The Holton Recorder for more information about Zellers and the woman who gave him the bracelet. Kropp said he plans to put together a memorial about Zellers and his fellow soldiers who died in the Feb. 18, 1944, air crash about 20 miles northeast of Phoenix.
Viola Richter grew up near the Alma and Halifax communities in Wabaunsee County, then moved with her family to the Holton area at the tail end of the 1930s. She said she couldn’t recall her first impression of George Zellers, who was getting ready to graduate from Holton High School in 1940.
But the two of them eventually fell in love, and letters George sent home while on military duty showed that even while apart, they stuck together. In one letter, dated the day after Christmas 1943 and shared with The Recorder by Zellers’ third cousin, Greg Lawson, Zellers remarked to his mother that she had given him “a nice cigarette case” — and when shown a picture of the case, Viola remembered it.
Zellers was looking forward to going to England to fight in World War II when the plane crash occurred, and Viola recalled that she was heartbroken to learn of his death. She remembered the day not long after that on the day of Zellers’ funeral, all of Holton came out to bid him one last farewell on his way to Holton Cemetery.
After high school, Viola married Dean Hamm, a 1939 graduate of HHS, and they moved to Topeka shortly after the end of the war. Together they had five children, including Paul, their third child.
“She sold real estate for a few years, and then she sold Tupperware here in Topeka for about 15 to 20 years,” Paul said of his mother. “She used to go to all the class reunions, whenever they had them.”
Viola and Dean would later divorce, and she would later marry William Row, a painter in Topeka. She continued to remain active in her church and at home until about three years ago, when she suffered her stroke.
“It frustrates her, because she can’t get outside and do stuff,” Paul said. “But she’s not bad for 87.”
Her stroke may have blunted her ability to speak — Paul said that to her, not being able to recover that ability was the most frustrating aspect of rebounding from the stroke — but it hasn’t dulled her memory, nor has it diminished her sense of humor.
“It’s got to be good to put up with me!” Paul joked.
He added that whether the bracelet will end up with his mother or with Lawson was still up in the air. Either way, he said, he and his mother are both glad it has been found.
“I just think it’s amazing,” Paul said.
