Aug. 4, 1912 -- May 5, 2005

Harriet Nye, 92, of Mishawaka, passed away after an illness at 9:15 p.m. Thursday, May 5, in Fountainview Place, Mishawaka.

Harriet was born on Aug. 4, 1912, in Mishawaka, to Rudolph A and Josephine C. (Shafer) Kamm. Her parents, a sister, Valerie Parshall, and a brother, William Kamm, preceded her in death.

On Nov. 4, 1936, in Mishawaka, as the former Harriet Kamm, she married Louis Nye, who preceded her in death on Sept. 19, 1986.

Surviving Harriet are her son, Phillip Stonewater of Mishawaka; two sisters, Natalie Danielsson and Lois Kamm, both of Mishawaka; several nieces and nephews; brother and sister-in-law, Ida E. "Babe" Kamm and Bud Parshall, both of Mishawaka.

Harriet was the first American and the only woman student to be enrolled in El Centro Internacional de Adiestramieto de Aviacion Civil, the Mexican-United Nations flight training school, where she lived many of the adventures she wrote about in her book Destination Danger. After attending Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, for two years, she transferred to St. Mary's, Notre Dame, IN. Upon receiving her degree, she took post-graduate courses on the Chicago campus of Northwestern, where she later joined the staff and read and wrote critiques of student manuscripts for the English department of Medill School of Journalism. A variety of occupations followed, from managing a restaurant to writing shopping columns and reviews for a South Bend newspaper. While working in the business office of a hotel, Harriet began writing fiction and articles. Many of these have appeared in magazines and newspapers. She won two first prizes for short stories and several second prizes sponsored by the Midwestern Writers' Conference. Harriet was a librarian for Mishawaka School System for 30 years, after retiring from Mishawaka Schools she worked as a real estate agent for 15 years at Jim Dunfee Century 21 Realtors. She enjoyed photography, a shared interest she had with her husband and continued to enjoy through her life.

Family and friends may visit Sunday, May 8, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Hahn Funeral Home, 505 W. 8th Street, Mishawaka. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, May 9, at 10 a.m. in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Mishawaka, with Rev. Robert Yast officiating. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery, Mishawaka.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in memory of Harriet to Hospice of St. Joseph County, 111 Sunnybrook Court, South Bend, IN 46637; or to the charity of donor's choice.