Mark Kramer, 76

Funeral services for Mark William Kramer will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Garfield-Palouse High School gym with vault interment to follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Palouse. A reception will follow the graveside service back at the school. Viewing will be held at Kramer Funeral Home in Palouse on Friday, May 8, from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., with the family present to greet guests starting at 4 that afternoon. 

Mr. Kramer, 76, a lifelong resident of Whitman County, passed away Friday, April 17, 2026, following a short but valiant battle with a very aggressive form of cancer.

Mark was born March 10, 1950, in Spokane, Wash., the oldest of three children born to Jack and Marian (Sieveke) Kramer. He grew up in the family funeral home in Tekoa and graduated from Tekoa High School in 1968. While in high school, Mark was very active in school sports and activities, including the French Club, Golf Club, Newspaper and Annual Staff, baseball, basketball, track and field, drama, as well as the FFA Club.

Although Mark worked closely with his father in the day-to-day of the funeral home from age 14, he served his official apprenticeship at Hazen & Jager Funeral Home in Spokane while attending classes at Spokane Falls Community College. After completing his prerequisite credits, he attended the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science and graduated in 1972. He returned home and began managing the funeral home in Palouse, a position he has held since that time. Although his health was in decline, he was still meeting with families up until the end of February this year.

For more than 50 years, Mark showed up for his community in a way that’s hard to put into words, but impossible to forget. He wasn’t the kind of person who looked for recognition. He just did the work, day in and day out, with a steady, gentle care that made people feel comforted in their hardest moments. Being a funeral director isn’t easy, but Mark carried that responsibility with real humility. He answered calls at all hours, missed family dinners, vacations, and other events because he insisted that he needed to put other people’s needs ahead of his own more times than anyone could count. 

In 2023, Mark was honored with the Legacy of Service Award, jointly presented by the Washington Cemetery Crematory & Funeral Association and the Washington State Funeral Directors Association, recognizing more than 50 years of dedicated service as a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer, as well as the Kramer family’s 75-plus-year history of caring for others. He was also honored by the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine for his over 48 years of service to the WSU Willed Body Program, preparing donors for educational study.

Mark had been married twice previously and was blessed with his son, Brandon William Kramer, in 1983. Brandon has many fond memories of his dad, including their many trips to go steelhead fishing, target shooting at Harold Naffziger’s place, and teaching Mark how to play games on Nintendo’s Gameboy when it first came out.

As the old adage goes, “the third time’s a charm”, and in May of 1998, Mark met Ami C. Lemon of Colfax. They were both at the Palouse Tavern, and Ami thought he was a bit odd, as he was wearing slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie, drinking a Coke. When Ami went up to the bar to get water, they struck up a conversation, and a week later, they were teamed up as pinochle partners at a social event at the home of some mutual friends. They hit it off, began dating, and later married Dec. 1, 2001, at the United Methodist Church in Colfax. 

Mark’s marriage to Ami also gave him the gift of his son, Daniel Mark Kramer, whom he was exceptionally proud of. You couldn’t have a conversation with Mark without him beaming with pride as he would tell you about Daniel and his different accomplishments in school, athletics, or otherwise. One of the greatest days of Mark’s life was when Daniel became a registered Funeral Director and Embalmer Intern and began the process of learning the family business under his dad’s guidance.

Outside of work, Mark was just a genuinely good human being, the kind you don’t come across very often. He had an easy, natural sense of humor that could catch you off guard in the best way, and he knew how to make people feel comfortable just by being himself. He was loving and steady, someone you could count on without ever having to wonder. There was a warmth to him that didn’t need to be announced; it just showed up in how he treated people, in the small moments, in the way he listened and cared. He gave a lot of himself to the world, but the people closest to him knew that what he gave came from a real, deep kindness and a love of his profession.

Mark was a longtime member of the Palouse Lions Club, where he served as Zone Chairman from 1980 to 1981, and was also among the first in the state to be trained in the Lions Eye Donation program. He served on Palouse’s Planning and Zoning Commission as well as the Board of Adjustment and was a member of the Oakesdale Masonic Lodge No. 55.

Mark is survived by his wife, Ami; sons Brandon and Daniel; brother Robert Kramer and sister Jill (Mike) Wise; half-brother Jason Kramer; niece Jennifer (Mike) Patterson and nephews Adam (Suzi) Kramer and Chris Wise; as well as a very large extended family on Ami’s side and many dear friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister-in-law, Pastor Kathy Kramer.

Memorial contributions in Mark’s honor are suggested to the Gritman Medical Center Foundation for the benefit of the “Light a Candle” Cancer Program or to the Palouse Lions Club.

The Kramer Family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to Brooke Nicholson, Dr. Standley, Dr. Raj and Dr. Fields, as well as all the nurses, CNAs and the whole team at Gritman Medical Center for their care of Mark in these last few months. Special thanks are also due to Amanda Bankus and the staff of LaDow Court for basically moving mountains to ensure that Mark was comfortable in the hours before his passing.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Johnston & Williams Funeral Home of Ellensburg. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.kramercares.com or www.johnston-williams.com

    Kramer