Robert Kraemer, a former member of the Gilroy Unified School
District board and a member of the Bonfante Gardens board of
directors, died Thursday night after a five-year battle with
cancer. He was 68.
Robert Kraemer, a former member of the Gilroy Unified School District board and a member of the Bonfante Gardens board of directors, died Thursday night after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 68.
Born in 1940, in Jamaica, New York, Kraemer met his wife Joanne in 1958 through mutual friends. They were married in 1962 on Long Island, New York.
After serving 10 years in the U.S. Army, he and his wife came to live in Gilroy in 1971, when Kraemer got a job at Gilroy Foods. Kraemer was veteran of the Vietnam War and was awarded the Silver Star.
One of his great passions was the city of Gilroy and seeing the community flourish. He was very involved in organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the Rotary Club, as well as serving on the boards of the Gilroy Unified School District and Bonfante Gardens, now Gilroy Gardens. He also was a member of the Leadership Gilroy board and a member of the Gilroy Foundation.
When he retired from Gilroy Foods after a 25-year career, “that’s when he started doing community work,” Joanne Kraemer said.
And that’s about the time Mayor Al Pinheiro got involved with some of the same organizations. He first met Kraemer in the early ’70s when both were working at Gilroy Foods, Pinheiro as a knife sharpener, Kraemer as a supervisor.
Although they didn’t connect then, years later they became good friends.
“I think of Bob as someone who did what he did for the good of the community, not for himself and not for the accolades,” Pinheiro said. “When he committed to something it got done.”
When Pinheiro learned doctors gave his friend little time, he organized a “roast.”
“Bob got to be told all the accolades and how people felt about him when he was alive,” he said.
The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce named him Man of the Year in 2003.
After accepting the award, he gave an emotional thank you to his wife.
“She has many achievements of her own but less obvious is her handling the almost total load of raising our family,” Kraemer said at the award banquet. “Thank you for playing nurse and chauffeur to me following Vietnam. Thank you for making me look like I deserve to be here tonight.”
He enjoyed the outdoors, traveling with his family and was always planning the next trip, his wife said. His motto was: “Life is good,” and he tried to live it that way, she added.
He is survived by his wife, Joanne Kraemer; sons, Stuart, Todd (wife Melissa); daughter, Kristin Kraemer; and one grandchild, Miles; brothers, Richard, Ronald and Donald; sisters, Kathy, Christina and Sara; as well as a long list of in-laws, cousins, nieces and nephews.
A celebration of his life will be held at 11 a.m. Friday Aug. 8, at the Gilroy Presbyterian Church.
Private funeral services will be held at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Gustine.
