Emma Louise Kramer

A longtime employee of the Arizona Republic, Emma Louise Kramer, 87, of Phoenix, died Friday morning at John C. Lincoln Hospital after a short illness. Prior to her illness, Mrs. Kramer—a formidable and independent woman—had lived on her own up to the last months of her life. Born Emma Reith in Follansbee, West Virginia, in 1923, she married Kenneth Hargreaves, the father of their two daughters, in 1946. After his death, she married John Kramer, president of Burma Latex in Tallmadge, Ohio. John passed away in 1976. In 1978, Mrs. Kramer moved from Ohio to Phoenix and soon became a fixture at the Republic as a liaison between the newspaper and the public. She retired after thirteen years on the job. She is survived by her sister Beverly Hawkins of Burgettsville, Pennsylvania; by her two daughters, Carol Hargreaves of Toledo, Ohio, and Janice Szabo of Basalt, Colorado; by her two grandchildren, Daniel Szabo of Durango, Colorado, and Megan Szabo of Hinesburg, Vermont; and by her great-grandson, Benjamin Koh, also of Hinesburg. A memorial visitation will be held Wednesday, March 30, 2011 from 10 A.M. until noon, at Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary, 719 North 27th Avenue in Phoenix. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that remembrance be made to Hospice of the Valley. Burial services will be private.