LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
We Remember |
Patty CramerPatty Cramer, real estate broker, caterer and entrepreneur in the District of Columbia for the past 28 years, died Friday, April 14. She was 55. She succumbed after a year-long battle with brain cancer. She was surrounded by her former spouse and partner, special friends and family in her beloved home on Q Street, N. W. A broker for Pardoe Realty at the time of her death, she had won top producer honors for the past two years. She worked in the real estate industry since 1976 in commercial and residential sales, property management and development. Before her real estate career, Ms. Cramer was a well-known Washington caterer. After attending the Philadelphia Restaurant School, Ms. Cramer created and managed the American Amber Grain, Fruited Plain and Shining Sea Company, also known as the American Amber Grain Catering Company, a successful catering and take-out store in Glover Park. She was a favored caterer of Washington Post food critic Phyllis Richman. Her store pre-dated the current popularity of carry-out prepared foods. She sold her business in 1984. Ms. Cramer was born in New Haven, CT, to Carl and Alice Olga Tressel. She grew up spending summers in Truro, MA, and winters in Sarasota, FL, where her father, a German immigrant, was a chef and restaurant owner. She graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in English and received a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology and an Advanced Graduate Specialist Certificate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, as well as a post-Master's Degree in Human Development from the University of Maryland. She married James A. Cramer in 1967. During their marriage, she was a social worker, kindergarten teacher, Navy wife and an instructor with the University of Maryland European Division, where she taught in Germany, Italy and Turkey. The couple traveled widely in Europe and North Africa. In 1975, they purchased a home and a commercial property on Q Street, which was the beginning of her real estate career in the Washington area. They were divorced in 1977. Ms. Cramer and Patricia Antonisse, her significant other of 14 years, owned properties in Annapolis and Chesapeake Beach, MD, where she was project manager for the marketing and selling of Chesapeake Bay-front town homes. They also enjoyed properties and weekends in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Cooking, entertaining and traveling were her favorite leisure activities. Holiday brunches with friends and trips to exotic places gave her some of her greatest pleasures. Ms. Cramer is survived by her former partners Pat Antonisse and Jim Cramer, her special circle of friends "Team Cramer," her sister-in-law Cheryl Tressel, niece Amy Tressel, nephews Eric and Mark Tressel of Meriden, CT, and her cats Chessie and Max. Her brother, Carl Tressel, died in July of 1997. Contributions in memory of Ms. Cramer may be made to the Mary-Helen Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer and to the Washington Home and Hospice, both of Washington, DC. A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 13 at 4:00 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, Sixteenth and Que Streets, NW, Washington, DC. Following the service, a reception will be held at 1414 Que Street, NW. For additional information, call 202-462-2431. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 4, May 5, 2000. |