Robert F. Kramer

Robert F. Kramer, 89, Bellevue, died on January 3, 2015 at Rennes Health Care Center, DePere, due to complications from a hip fracture in November. The son of Fred and Frances (Bonin) Kramer, he was born January 11, 1925 in Oak Park, IL. Bob graduated from St. Mel High School in Chicago in 1943. He served in the U.S. Air Force during WWII as a member of a B-29 flight crew in the South Pacific stationed on Guam. After the war he attended DePaul University and received a BS in Accounting and an MBA from UW Milwaukee. He opened his own accounting practice in Merrill, WI in 1954 and in 1963 accepted a position on the business faculty at St. Norbert College. He became Department Chairman and greatly expanded the Business Department. He received the Leonard Ledvina award for Excellence in Teaching in 1983 and retired from St. Norbert in 1990. Bob was very active in the accounting profession, serving on many committees and on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs. He was elected president of the organization in 1986. Bob also worked with the WICPA Educational Foundation for 12 years and served a term as president. He served a term on the governing council of the American Institute of CPAs and in 1990 received a joint award from WICPA and AICPA for his significant contribution to accounting education as a teacher and to the accounting profession through his active involvement in professional activities. When he retired in 1990, WICPA honored him with their distinguished career award. Bob married Marylou Russell in 1948 in Maywood, IL and they built their home in Villa Park. They moved to Merrill in 1954 with their daughter, Lynda. Their daughter, Cathy, was born in Merrill and the family moved to Green Bay in 1963 when Bob joined the faculty at St. Norbert. Bob enjoyed playing golf, and loved re-living every hole of the time he played Augusta National Golf Course and of the late afternoon round on the Olde Course at St. Andrew’s in Scotland. After he retired he spent hundreds of hours patiently building an elaborate HO model railroad layout with villages, tunnels, bridges, and mountains that covered most of the basement. He volunteered for many years at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay as a tour guide and in later years at the Einstein Project helping prepare science projects for students. During this time he also enjoyed playing bridge every month with a group of grumpy old men. The activity that added the most joy to his life for the past ten years was playing pool with old friends on Wonderful Wednesday afternoons, and ending with lively discussions over cocktails and dinner with spouses. As Alzheimer’s disease took its toll, he especially treasured visits from his beloved daughters. When his two grandsons and his granddaughter came to visit, it brought a twinkle back to his eyes and joy to his heart. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marylou; two daughters, Lynda Wingrove (Scott), Minneapolis, MN, and Cathy Kramer (Ken Patterson), Asheville, NC; three grandchildren, Mike DeArmond (Kristen), Jon DeArmond, and Zoey Kramer-Patterson; and two great-grandchildren, Paige and Graham DeArmond. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Florence. Friends may visit at Cotter Funeral Home, 860 N. Webster Ave., De Pere, on Saturday, January 17, 2015, at 10 am, and gather there for Bob’s memorial service at 11 am. Reception will follow. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.cotterfuneralhome.com. Memorial donations will be directed to St. Norbert Scholarship Fund to benefit accounting majors. We especially want to thank the staff at Rennes and Unity Hospice, and especially Dr. Jeremy Green for their care and support at the end.

Reception:
Cotter Funeral Home
860 N Webster Ave
De Pere, WI 54115