By Georgeann Johnson
Long time resident Betty Kempe died recently in July, age 101. Betty Kempe´s 60 years in San Miguel de Allende covered an era where it grew from 13,000 inhabitants to 140,000 residents. Betty first came in the summer of 1957 and stayed, with her three young daughters, at the Instituto Hotel. During that summer she learned of Augusta Irving and her one room schoolhouse, teaching in English. As her older daughters were approaching high school, Betty went back to Texas, gathered up belongings, and moved to San Miguel.
In 1957 the size of San Miguel is what is now called Centro. The Instituto was at the edge of town with the San Antonio church in the distance with a few houses around it. At the top of town, past the Santo Domingo arch, the Hotel Atascadero reigned alone and supreme; at the bottom of Canal Street one could see a dirt road wending its way to the railroad station. There were perhaps 100 Norteamericanos/Canadians living here. San Miguel was not yet on the map and there were few houses for rent and very few, if any, for sale. Betty and girls lived for 3 months with Barbara Holt on Hernandez Macias until finding a rental house on Calle Barranca.
Betty Johnson married Gordon Kempe in 1959 and the family went off to Germany where Gordon had a job. In 1962 the family returned to the USA and the Kempes divorced a few years later. Betty had long held a dream of returning to San Miguel and buying a property to be an inn or small hotel. She returned to Europe and went to hotel school in Switzerland, while her youngest daughter finished high school there. She then returned to San Miguel and stayed with her friend Sonia Cervantes at Casa Cervantes on Recreo. After almost a year of looking for the right property, she bought the Villa Santa Monica and opened the doors in January of 1970. At this time Los Balcones, up the hill, started being built; as well as the beginning of colonia San Antonio.
Always a cook, Betty sat out to train staff in fine cooking. At this point, in San Miguel there was the Sanchez grocery store on the jardin, the Ignacio Ramirez market, and two or three butcher shops. There was chicken, yes, but good beef and fish were hard to find. For the next seven or eight years, Betty put ice and coolers in her car and drove every six weeks to Mexico City to get good fish and meat at the San Juan market there—not to mention exotic vegetables like artichokes and brussel sprouts. She trained her staff in cooking her favorite kinds of both American food and Mexican dishes. For 15 years she ran a favorite hotel for guests who returned every winter, and others who came for summer months. Many of those guests became lifelong family friends. In 1985 Betty sold the Villa Santa Monica, and soon afterwards bought a house on calle Chorro. Beginning around 1990, the plaza Conde de Real was being built next to the Atascadero arch on the highway. What? A supermarket? The beginning of the commercialization up, down, and around the caracol and around town and out towards the railroad station had started. In 10 years both the appearance and commerce of San Miguel was dramatically changed.
Ah, yes, in the old days we sometimes rode the train to Laredo and back. For a brief history of migracion, Betty and girls used to go by train, or car, to Laredo every six months to get new tourist cards. When Betty bought the Villa Santa Monica, she had to become inmigrado, rather than tourist. This involved various trips, several lawyers, and several years, to Mexico City. In the old days, you «paid your dues» to live in Mexico. In addition to legalities in Mexico City, the ABC hospital there was the go-to goal for accidents or serious illness. The first doctor in San Miguel, that I remember, was Dr. Olsina, one of the emigres from Spain. One had to knock on his door to be received by Dr. Olsina in an elegant dressing gown and a cigarette in a cigarette holder. Of course, the other medical help was Farmacia Agundiz with Chelo in attendance.
Betty published a bilingual cookbook, “Artists in the Kitchen,” in 1992. She had had the good fortune of having a former employee of the Villa Santa Monica, Maria Elena Castro, return to work for her when another former cook, Elena Mendoza, retired.
For someone born in 1921 in Ft. Worth, Texas, Betty´s sense of adventure led her to a life of delightful travels and to a beautiful home in Mexico, brimming with fun, friends, and family. Although smaller in size than the Villa Santa Monica, her later
home on Calle Chorro continued the ambiance of good food, tequila sours, and tales into the sunset.
I am naming adult friends from the «old days,» because friends, festivity, and conversation were a large part of Betty´s life. Betty was preceded in death by friends Bonnie Cummins, George Pitluga, Merle Pitluga, Peter Olwyler, Tedde Olwyler, Joy Rowe, Silvia Samuelson, Dotty and Pepe Vidargas, Casi Bowman, George and Dorothy Mayer, Sonia Cervantes, Margaret Ross, Augusta Irving, Tom Horn, Madeleine Horn, Cappy and Red Rice, Sidell Schooler, Joan and Forrest Stevens, Elton and Martha Hyder, Red and Cappy Rice, Peter and Martha Norris, Margaret and Norman Schmidt, and Robert Wickstrom.
She leaves three daughters, Georgeann Johnson, Mary Lou Ridinger, and Christina Johnson, in gratitude and appreciation for having been blessed with such an awesome mother. She also leaves niece Melissa Thompson and nephew BV Thompson. And she leaves grandsons David Bau and Jacob Ridinger, and one great-grandson, Rafael Ridinger.
