Patricia Louise (Herr) Cramer, 91, life partner and wife to Calvin for over 70 years, mother, grandmother and sister passed away at Cardinal View Senior Living in Middleton, Wisconsin on April 16, 2023.

Pat was born on Aug 8, 1931 to Vernon M. Herr and Beulah (Smith) Herr in the same room of a Dane County farmhouse where her father was born. She graduated from Lodi High School (1949) and Columbia County Normal School in Columbus thereafter. She married Calvin Cramer in June 1952.

Pat taught grades 1-8 for one year at the Lincoln School in rural Columbia County before assuming her role as "mom" to raise her family in Lodi. In the 1970s she began providing piano lessons to area children, which she continued for almost two decades, and was a volunteer piano player at various events. As a lifelong member of the Lodi United Methodist Church, she served in a wide variety of roles from Sunday school teacher to informal and formal welcomer, and volunteered at countless funerals and events for others. She and Cal always attended Sunday "early service" until COVID sent everyone home. In her later years and well into her 80's, Pat's volunteering in the Lodi community grew through the Lodi Valley Historical Society, the Lodi Agricultural Fair and the Good Samaritan (now Divine) Nursing Home.

Pat and Cal mutually cherished a simple life. Although they traveled by car earlier in their marriage, after retirement they largely remained close to home where they took satisfaction from the beauty and day-to-day activities of their local environment. As a mother, Pat instilled in her children curiosity, empathy and a zero-tolerance for arrogance. Her hobbies included a special touch to coax thriving life from a wide variety of plants that adorned her home and were sometimes entered in the Lodi Agricultural Fair.

Pat is survived by her husband Calvin, her children, Ramona (Larry) Wesner (Franklin, WI) and Steven (Kay) Cramer (Lodi, WI), her siblings, Vernon, Eunice and Robert, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Vernon and Beulah Herr.

There will be a brief Celebration of Life service at the Lodi United Methodist Church in Lodi on Friday, May 12 ^th at 10 am followed by a reception with refreshments. Memorials and gifts may be directed to Agrace Hospice or the Lodi United Methodist Church.