Services
Obituary
Don Cramer, 79, of Clarion passed away Friday, October 10, 2008 at Wright Medical Center in Clarion.
A funeral service for Don Cramer will be held Monday, October 13, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. at United Church Of Christ Congregational in Clarion with Rev. Geoffrey White officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Clarion.
Visitation will be held Sunday, October 12, 2008 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at United Church Of Christ Congregational, 121 3rd Avenue Northwest in Clarion and continue one hour prior to the funeral service at the church on Monday. Masonic services will be held following the visitation on Sunday.
Don Ramon Cramer was born on March 17, 1929 on the family farm North of Galt, Iowa. His parents were Ray and Jessie (Simmons) Cramer. He attended 8 grades of school in Rowan and graduated in 1948 from Clarion High School. He attended Iowa State College and played on the Freshman football team. He began farming with his father and moved to the farm where he lived at this time.
On August 20th, 1950 he was married to Marjorie (Castleman) and to this union four children were born; Kent, Kirk, Mark and Michelle. They celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary in August.
He was a member of the Congregational Church for over 50 years and served on various boards. He was a premium fudge and peanut brittle maker for the annual bazaar. He loved to play golf and enjoyed watching sports, especially football. He liked to restore old rusty antique tractors to like-new. He was a 50-year plus Mason and a charter member of the Wright County Shrine Mini-Patrol. He performed for 28 years and raised money for the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. He usually wore a black ape costume on his motorcycle in parades.
He enjoyed flea markets and watches. Every fall he called his friends to meet at Pike’s Timber for a wiener roast. Many hours were spent around the campfire. He liked Big Band music and dances. The family enjoyed traveling and did a lot of camping from Canada to Arizona. In later years he went to Florida and Texas in the winter. He liked to be near a lake or the ocean.
Don is survived by his wife, Marj; sons: Kent and his wife Mari of Hampton, Kirk and his wife Melanie of Clarion, Mark and his wife Cathy of Clarion; daughter, Michelle Noth and her husband Jon of Commerce City, Colorado; nine grandchildren: Shannon (Kelly) Leist of Clarion, Jodi (Bo) Barrus of Belmond, Melissa Cramer of Jackson, Wyoming, Marci (Trent) Cooper of Des Moines, Kelly Cramer of Chicago, Illinois, Brandon Cramer of Ames, Cassidie Cramer of Clarion, Jessica and Jamie Noth of Commerce City, Colorado; six great grandchildren; three step-grandchildren: Jess (Erica) Miller of Latimer, Joshua (Billie) Miller of Boydon, and Clay (Sarah) Miller of Hampton; brother-in-law, Larry (Nancy) Castleman of Deming, New Mexico.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Mark who died in infancy, his stepmother Gladys (Collis); step-brother Dean Collis and step-sister Mavis (Callis) Cramer.