Submitted by: Dan Rich
Rev. Robert L. Kramer, CSC
1917 - August 11, 2007
South Bend Tribune 8/13/2007
NOTRE DAME - Rev. Robert L. Kramer, CSC, 90, died on
Saturday, August 11, 2007, at Holy Cross House, Notre Dame, IN.
Fr. Kramer received his elementary education at St. Vincent
DePaul and St. Rose Schools in Cleveland and graduated from
Lakewood High School in 1935. He attended John Carrol University,
earning a bachelor degree and worked in the printing, and
magazine business until the outbreak of World War II. Fr. Kramer
spent most of the war in the Army Finance Division stationed in
New Delhi, India. He left military service in 1945. Upon
returning to Cleveland he began working in the sales division of
the Houghton Elevator Company.
Fr. Kramer left Houghton to join Holy Cross
in 1957. While at a sales meeting in a hotel he met a few Holy
Cross Priests and enjoyed visiting with them. He asked them to
send him information about Holy Cross. A few days later some
vocation literature arrived at his home. He was quite impressed
and at 40 he entered as a candidate for the priesthood. Fr.
Kramer entered Sacred Heart Novitiate, Jordan, MN, on August 15,
1957, and made first vows one year and one day later. He returned
to Moreau Seminary for further classes at Notre Dame and stayed
there for two years. In the summer of 1960, Fr. Kramer moved to
Holy Cross College, Washington, D.C., for four years of theology.
He was ordained to the priesthood May 23, 1964, in the Cathedral
of St. John the Evangelist, Cleveland, OH. His first assignment
was to the University of Notre Dame where he spent a year of
pastoral apprenticeship followed by a year as assistant at Christ
the King Parish.
In 1966, he was made director of Maryhill
Retreat House in Pinehill, LA. In 1967, he was director of the
Holy Cross Associates Program consisting of the parents of
students at Holy Cross Minor Seminary. Moving to the University
of Portland in 1968, he worked for the Vocation Office and lived
on campus. He returned to Cleveland in 1970 and worked at St.
Edward High School, Lakewood and Gilmour Academy until 1973. Fr.
Kramer began a course of study at Ashland College in Ashland, OH,
and earned a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Psychology in 1975.
He next served as hospital chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital in
Dayton, OH, before moving to Colorado Springs and St. Francis
Hospital where he served as chaplain from 1976 to 1984. In
January of 1984, he was appointed Vice President of Development
for St. Francis Health Care Systems also in Colorado Springs. He
retired from that position a year later and moved to Casa Santa
Cruz in Phoenix in 1985. He remained active as a counselor at the
Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale and over 20 years of
service to the good people of St. Helen's Parish. In addition to
those duties, Fr. Kramer was chaplain to the Notre Dame Club of
Phoenix. In late fall of 2006 Fr. Kramer moved to Holy Cross
House, Notre Dame, IN, because of failing health. Fr. Kramer was
preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Marie Kramer and a
sister, Jeanne Kramer. He is survived by a sister, Mary Louise Miller;
a brother, John (Mary) Kramer; and several nieces and nephews.
Viewing for Fr. Kramer will be held in the
Chapel of Moreau Seminary, University of Notre Dame, on Monday,
August 13, 2007, from 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a wake service at
7:30 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at the Sacred Heart
Basilica, Notre Dame, on Tuesday, August 14, at 3:30 p.m.
Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Memorial
contributions to support the mission and ministries of the
Priests of Holy Cross, Indiana Province can be made to: Priests
of Holy Cross, Indiana Province, Office of Development, P.O. Box
765, Notre Dame, IN 46556.