Celebrating the life of Robert Kenneth Kramer: Poet, critic, and esteemed professor dies at 90

Robert Kenneth Kramer, who died July 1, often read original poetry at An Beal Bocht Café.

Courtesy Millspaugh Funeral Home

Robert Kenneth Kramer, poet, critic, translator of European literature and Manhattan College professor emeritus of the Bronx and Millrift, Pennsylvania, died after a three-month battle with cancer at his daughter’s home in the Hudson Valley on Monday, July 1. He was 90. 

The son of the late Walter Louis Kramer and Helen Schoen Kramer, he was born Aug. 20, 1933, in Queens.

He was the widower of Mary Elizabeth (Henry) Kramer.

Survivors include his daughter, Karen Kramer-Ley; grandsons Max Ley and Desmond Ley; brother Kenneth Kramer; longtime companion Gloria Nichols and her sons, Frank and Brad; many nieces and nephews and extended family. He was predeceased by his beloved son-in-law Douglas Ley, sister Janet (Kramer) McHugh and brother James Kramer.

He attended Xavier High School in New York and St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he proudly ran track and served in the ROTC program. He continued his service after college in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, earning the rank of first lieutenant. 

He spent a lifetime in academia, teaching for more than 50 years, first at St. Louis University, then at Xavier University — the historically black college in New Orleans — and lastly, at Manhattan College in the Bronx, teaching English, German, world literature and art history, as well as serving for several years as director of international studies at Manhattan. He especially enjoyed taking students to museums in New York and Europe, sharing his passion for the arts and travel.

He has been a guest professor at various colleges, such as the University of Connecticut, Syracuse University and Haverford College, and has lectured at such institutions as the Smithsonian, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Art Therapist Association.

In 1967, he won a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Munich and went on to earn many National Endowment for the Humanities grants. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, both in the fields of poetry and criticism and he is a winner of the 2016 Absoloose national poetry contest.

He was vice-president of the New York Browning Society, former coordinator of the New York Poets Cooperative and was a contributor to the American Book Review. His publications include scholarly papers; literary journal submissions; contributions of text to books on art, literature and photography; several chapbooks of original poetry; and soon-to-be-released translations of early 20th century German poets as well as a new collection of his own work. He has read his poetry on television and radio and will be missed at the poetry readings at An Beal Bocht Cafe. 

He was also known for his piano playing for family and in the bars of New York and New Orleans, with a particular love for the music of 1920s Berlin and the Great American Songbook. He was dedicated to seeking out every New York piano bar or cabaret singer before they all disappeared.

He will be remembered for his dedication to family, the craft of poetry, his teaching, his enthusiasm for art and music, his kindness, warmth and understanding nature. 

Services to be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions in his name can be made to doctorswithoutborders.org or the American Cancer Society.

For directions, information or condolences, please visit wallkillfuneralhome.com