1928-12-20-sc-p17-kempf-estate-in-court-again
December 20, 1928 Spokane Daily Chronicle Page 17:
KEMPF ESTATE IN COURT AGAIN
Wealthy Farmer Disappeared in 1921 — Wife Asks for Property.
Josephine D. Kempf appeared in superior court today to petition for letters of administration for the estate of Godfreid Kempf, a wealthy Reardan farmer, who mysteriously disappeared from his home in Spokane, June 30, 1921.
Mrs. Kempf told the court today that the estate amounted to about $15,000, About a year after her husband’s disappearance she" filed suit in superior court to divorce him, charging cruelty and nonsupport. At that time she estimated the estate to be valued at $60,000, and in her complaint she declared that she believed that her husband had deserted her and gone to Germany, his native land.
Harmony in Family.
In her petition she expresses a belief that her husband died on the day that he disappeared and declares that their family life had been harmonious until the time of his disappearance.
When she sought the divorce, three children of Mr. Kempf, by a former marriage—Fred Kempf of Colfax, Mrs. Marie Nicodemus of Spokane, and Mrs. Minnine Michelback of Montana—contested the action, contending that they believed that their father was still alive and that he would be left penniless in his old age if the court were to award all of his property to his second wife.
The case was tried before Superior Judge Joseph Lindsley, who granted her a divorce and permanent alimony of. $1500. Mrs. Kempf appealed to the supreme court where the case was reversed and sent back for a new trial. Before the new trial was held, Mrs. Kempf had the action dismissed and the matter has remain unchanged until today.
Set for December 24.
When the probate matter was brought before the court today Superior Judge Charles Leavy ordered a continuance until December 24, so that Mrs. Kempf’s children might be consulted and given an opportunity to appear.
In her petition Mrs. Kempf states that her age was 35 years while her husband was 61 at the time of his disappearance. On the morning that he left home he complained of influenza, but had gone down town after she had prepared lunch for him, promising to bring home things for supper. At the time of the divorce Mrs. Kempf listed among her husband's assets stock in a Reardan bank, $32,000 in notes, several pieces of Spokane real estate and a farm near Reardan.
The Kempf family first came into prominence several years before Mr. Kempf's disappearance when a daughter was poisoned and a man tried for her murder.
