Twyla Lee Kramer, age 90 of Stapleton, passed away Tuesday December 18, 2018 at Great Plains Health.
Twyla was born July 3, 1928 in Arnold, NE to Porter and Emma (Potter) Long, the youngest of 10 children. She attended school at Stapleton Public School and married Charles Paul “Skinner” Kramer on October 27, 1945. To their union 4 children were born: Sandra Lee, Paul Eugene “Butch”, Gary Dean, and Kenneth Lyle.
She lived most of her life in Logan County in several locations and in 1996 she and Skinner moved into their new home on what was known as the Lehmkuler place, located 7 miles SW of Stapleton, NE. She was a busy farmer’s wife, doing all that was required on the farm: cooking, helping in the fields during harvest, cooking, branding, and cooking … you get the picture! She loved to cook, in large quantities. The more the merrier. It was hard to get a recipe from her as she referred to herself as a Dip and Dab cook. A little dip here and a little dab there. She loved it when the boys went pheasant hunting, because she loved fried pheasant and biscuits and gravy. She moved to Lake Maloney in 2011 and had recently moved into Linden Estates Assisted Living. Twyla loved life in general, a good card game, and she could really tell a joke. She loved dancing; whole family would go to barn dances; only, they were Quonset dances. Any neighbors putting up a new Quonset would have to have a party to break it in right. She especially loved her grandkids and said each one of them had a special way about themselves that she always remembered. If you were a friend of the family, she was your kid’s grandma too. She had a scavenger hunt one year at Easter and ended up doing it for several years because the grandkids loved it so much. This wasn’t just in the front yard either, it was all over the farm. She never met a stranger and was very active in the community. She enjoyed working at the school for several years; was a member of the Presbyterian Church, a founding member of Banner Mother’s Extension Club, belonged to the VFW Auxiliary, was Red Cross Chairperson, a Hospice Volunteer, Logan Co. Fair Board Chairperson, and sat on the Policy Adviser’s Board at the Senior Center in North Platte. Many of you will remember her as the owner and cook of Western Sale Barn Café in North Platte from 1988 until she retired in 1996.
Twyla is survived by 3 children, Sandra Lee (Jerry) Cook of Coolidge, AZ, Paul Eugene “Butch” (Diane) Kramer of Mt. Airy, NC, Kenneth Lyle (Angie) Kramer of Stapleton, NE; 11 grandkids, Cory (Lynne) Cook of Lincoln, Ramona (Gabe) Brown of North Platte; Laura (Nick) Romeo of Arapahoe, Jona (Rodney) Barr of Wolback, NE, Stacey (Shawn) Brickell of Mt. Airy, NC, Shelly Sexton of Mt. Airy, NC, Mista (Dustin) White of Alliance, Wade (Heather) Kramer of Hyannis, Devin (Jody) Kramer of Gilbert, AZ, Alex Frey of North Platte, Erin Frey of Stapleton; 29 great grandkids; 5 great great grandkids; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents Port and Emma Long; Skinner, her husband of 57 years; infant son Gary Dean; special friend Leroy Fritzler; 9 siblings and several brothers and sisters-in-law.
Memorials are suggested in her name and online condolences may be shared at www.adamsswanson.com. Funeral services will be held 10:00 a.m. Thursday December 27, 2018 at the Stapleton Presbyterian Church with Reverend Frank Scott officiating. Burial will follow at the McCain Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Wednesday December 26, 2018 at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home which is in charge of arrangements.