Victor Anthony Kramer

Victor Anthony Kramer, devoted husband, loving father, and inspiring colleague, teacher and friend to all who were privileged to know and spend time with him, passed away at 84 on Dec. 1 after a brief period in hospice. Victor, along with his joyful spirit and infectious laugh, will be forever cherished and deeply missed.

Born to Edward and Leota Kramer in Youngstown, Ohio, Victor lived with his parents and older brother, John, in various cities before the family settled in Waco, Texas, in 1942. Growing up in Central Texas, "Vicky and Jackie" were car owners before they were teenagers, and Victor started working even earlier. An inveterate list-maker, note-taker and cataloger graced with a prodigious memory, Victor often recalled his youth: his father's job assignments, the numerous addresses where his family lived, the remarkable efforts of his hard-working mother, and his own inimitable history. These narratives provided his family and friends with a steady stream of details about each stage of his life; and they served as part of his perseverant efforts to build community and connection, endeavoring always to bring people together in various forms of communion.

Dr. Kramer and his wife, Dr. Dewey Weiss Kramer, shared a remarkable 60-year marriage of support and shared interests in culture and faith. Victor's affectionate dedication as a father to his children, Jerome and Sarah, meanwhile, was constant and delightful, filled with advice, counsel, laughter, all those stories, quite a few poems, and lots and lots of drawings.

Victor graduated from Reicher Catholic High School in 1957, received his B.A. from Saint Edward's University in 1961, and his M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1963; his Ph.D. was awarded by UT Austin in 1966, with his dissertation on James Agee; this was the beginning of decades of scholarship that led him to be a preeminent Agee expert.

As he became a prominent American Studies scholar, Victor developed a particularly strong focus on the monk, writer and artist, Thomas Merton. Victor was one of the founders of the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS) and received its "Louie" Award for Outstanding Merton Scholarship in 2005. He was also a founding editor, in 1986, with Dewey, of The Merton Annual: Studies in Culture, Spirituality and Social Concerns, pouring his heart and soul into each word and every story shared. The first volume was issued in 1988, and Volume 36 is due for publication in the Spring of 2024; Victor edited 20 volumes of the Annual, through 2008, at which time he arranged for the ITMS to take over control. Victor's foresight and love for Thomas Merton studies created a widely-respected, peer-reviewed journal that promotes the legacy of Merton scholarship worldwide. Victor also served on the board of the ITMS, 1997-2003, and was a frequent contributor to Merton.org.

Among the 14 books Kramer wrote or edited, two are about Merton and another is the fourth volume of The Merton Journals, "Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years 1960-63." And while Victor may be most recognized for his Merton work, he also conducted significant research and scholarship around a wide range of subjects and writers, including the Harlem Renaissance, Walker Percy, Andrew Lytle, Peter Taylor and Flannery O'Conner. He also edited 12 volumes in the Georgia State University English Department series Studies in the Literary Imagination. He was a member of the faculty at Marquette University, Georgia State University and Spring Hill College, Atlanta. At Spring Hill, he also completed a two-year program for Certification as a Spiritual Director; he worked as such for the rest of his life. Twice he served as Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the German universities of Regensburg and Heidelberg, and he lectured in India and Brazil. Following his retirement from Georgia State, he served as the director of the Aquinas Center at Emory University.

Victor's students will remember his teaching for inspiring a respectful, contemplative approach to reading, waiting patiently for the connections to reveal themselves. Victor believed that literary interpretation should always be an expansive, inclusive, informative, catholic experience, never presumptuous or reductive. He was also an attentive, generous mentor, guiding his students to research and publishing opportunities. Even in retirement, Victor was keenly interested in the careers and progress of his former students, maintaining a regular correspondence.

He was a member of and involved with many Atlanta-area faith communities, including St. Thomas More Catholic Church, The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, St. John Chrysostom, Emory's Cannon Chapel and Oakhurst Baptist. He was a frequent visitor and supporter of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA, where he many times led retreats and gave lectures with Dewey on topics such as the spiritual aspects of writers like Merton, Percy, Agee, and O'Conner. Earlier this year, Victor and Dewey began Phase Two of their oral history project about the Conyers monastic community, intended to coincide with the 80th anniversary celebration of the monastery's founding; this project is among those that will continue because of Victor's inspiration.

Victor enjoyed spending quiet time reading and writing in the home he shared with Dewey, including in a standalone studio he had built in the back yard, and was always fond of their cats. He loved to doodle and drew impressive cat figures; these decorated most of his voluminous notes and correspondence.

Victor is survived by his beautiful wife, Dewey; their son Jerome and daughter-in-law, Sarah (Carstensen) of New York City and their children, Maximilian and Cecilia; and their daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Carl Dorman, and their children, Isaiah, Zaporah, Serafina, Prudence and Aurienne; his brother Dennis Kramer (Donna); sister Karen Griffin (Joe); numerous cousins, nieces, nephews; and other family members. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, John, and his beloved uncle, Thom Feuerstein.

Visitation will take place from 3-7 at A.S. Turner Funeral Home, 2773 N. Decatur Road, Decatur, GA 30033, on Sunday, Dec. 17, from 3-7 pm. The Funeral Mass will take place at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 636 W. Ponce de Leon Ave. Decatur, GA 30030-2951, at 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 18. In the spring a celebration of life will occur in conjunction with the burial of Victor's ashes at Honey Creek Green Cemetery at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Catholic Relief Services or a charity of choice.