The New York Turtle and Tortoise Society

In Memoriam: Mitchell L. Cramer

December 5, 1948–August 16, 2024

From Lorri Cramer, Mitch’s wife of 53 years Mitch was an artist and became a beloved teacher. He taught art at the Collegiate School for Boys for almost 50 years. He loved teaching kids and taught kindergarten through 12th grade. By the time he retired he was teaching the sons and grandsons of his original students. He also was an adjunct professor at Queens College in the evenings and on Saturdays. We met at Queens College where we were both undergrad students in the Art Department and were friends for a number of years before we started dating. Mitch was born and grew up in Middle Village, Queens. He did his undergrad and first masters at Queens College and then went to Teachers College, Columbia University for more advanced degrees. Growing up, he had never had inside pets. I was living in the Village and had a cat named Lavender. I told him that if he wanted to move in with me, the cat stayed and he would have to get used to having animals as a part of our life. Over the years, Mitch learned to live with and love cats, dogs, an alligator, parakeets that flew in our window, assorted reptiles, especially turtles, hermit crabs, frogs, ant farms, and butterflies. I was blessed to have him for my partner. He was a wonderful husband and a devoted father to Abby and Daniel. He loved nature and was awed by all the wonders in the world. He never stopped learning.  The kitchen was his and he cooked almost all of our meals for over 53 years. It is because of his amazing cooking that I had the time to become so in­volved with turtles. He did learn to love all the animals and became very involved and knowl­edge­able about turtles and tortoises. He also very much enjoyed the folks that he met through the Society. He was a softy. Mitch would complain that there were to be “no more animals” added to our family, but then one would appear and they always stayed. I really miss him.

A slideshow of photos of Mitch from Annual Turtle and Tortoise Shows
and the Parks Department's Urban Wildlife Appreciation Day evemts
Photos by Anita Salzberg
(Hold mouse over image to pause slide changes.)

Obituary of Mitchell Cramer, 1948–2024 by David Fisher Mitchell Cramer, a talented artist and a devoted and innovative teacher of the arts, died peacefully on August 16, 2024 at NYU Hospital after a long and courageous battle with a number of medical issues. He was 75. ‘Mitch’ Cramer was born and raised in Middle Village, Queens. He attended local public schools, graduated from Queens College, and earned a Masters in Arts from Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. It was during his undergraduate years that he met his wife Lorri, a fellow art student. Together they raised two children; a daughter, Abigail, and a son, Daniel. While studying at Queens College, Mitch formed a close and lasting relationship with two of his professors, Clarence Bunch and John Lidstone. On his own, as well as in collaboration with these mentors, especially Dr. Lidstone, Mitch made a transformative impact on arts education at the Collegiate School for Boys. Mitch’s career at Collegiate spanned more than four decades. During those years he strove unceasingly to elevate the arts to a level commensurate with that of the other academic subjects. For Mitch, art was not to be seen as a break from regular classes where a boy made cute projects to take home to his parents. Just as an English teacher wants her students to refine their skills of oral and written expression, Mitch wanted his students to understand and begin to achieve some mastery of the creative process in a variety of mediums such as painting and sculpture. It was his relentless advocacy for academic parity of the arts that often put him at odds with some of his colleagues and supervisors. However, until the end of his years at Collegiate, Mitch never backed down. Fortunately, early in Mitch’s career, the Head of the Middle School was one administrator who fully supported his efforts to expand and develop the arts program. Along with Dr. Lidstone, Mitch developed a film-making program for Middle School boys, a number of whom continued to pursue film in the Upper School. A highlight of this program was a yearly Film Festival in which boys pre­sented their Super 8 films. One year the festival even attracted the notice of Jonas Mekas, who printed a favorable review in The Village Voice. Mitchell Cramer was a loving husband to Lorri for 50 years and a devoted father to Abigail and Daniel. He will be missed, but his impact on those who knew him will not be forgotten.

Remembrances and tributes received by Lorri following Mitch’s passing Ben Procter:  Lorri, You don't know me but I knew your husband. He taught me for many years at Collegiate and gave me so muchfoundational knowledge about art and design. I have gone on to a busy career in the field, no doubt aided tremendously by Mitch (or as I knew him, Mr. Cramer). I wrote to Mitch many years ago but never got a reply, most likely because I got the email address wrong or some such. I wanted to thank him deeply for his influence on me as a young creative person and to let him know he helped launch me to success in art and design — I am currently a production designer on the James Cameron Avatar films and franchise. Regretfully, I never followed up, but I wanted to take this chance to express my thanks to you instead. He was a great teacher and a profoundly sweet person. I am so, so sorry for your incalculable loss at this time.  —Ben Proctor Annette Blaugrund, Ph.D.:  Dear Lorri, My boys, Jeb and Jonathan Blaugrund, now in their 50s, were Collegiate students in the 80s and much appreciated Mitch’s gentle soul and art appreciation, as did I. So sorry for your loss. Very best,  —Annette Carl Kissin:  Dear Lorri, I did not have the good fortune to have Mitch as a teacher, but I did have the pleasure of talking to him and spending a little time together on some open house days at Collegiate. He was the kind of person I instantly felt a kinship with. I am in the arts as a performer and writer. Mitch exuded kindness, creativity, encouragement, and warmth. A few seconds in his presence was a spiritual recharging of one’s batteries. Amazing how quickly one recognizes a good soul. Mitch was that to the max. My condolences on your loss.  —Carl Kissin, class of '76 P.S. David Lynagh, who interviewed Mitch, was an intern at the improv theater company where I performed for many years, Chicago City Limits Dan-el Padilla Peralta:  Dear Lorri (if I may), I've just seen the news of Mitch's passing, and I wanted to write with my condolences. Mitch put down the mostdiscerning observation that any teacher has ever made about me on my 8th-grade report card: "His present skillstend to lag behind his more exacting ideas, and he tends to need prodding to go beyond his initial efforts." I'venever forgotten those words, and I've even grown to treasure them. Mitch so instinctively and viscerally graspedsomething that I struggled for a long time to accept — that if I ever, ever wanted to narrow the gap betweenambition and reality, I would need to apply myself with greater focus and determination.      Now a teacher myself, I regularly encounter students for whom the tension between present skill andaspirational yearning regularly yields to a species of self-paralysis. In conversations with them, I think of Mitch,and of the responsibility that he discharged at a fraught moment in my life: to prod, to coax, and most of all topersuade me that striving past that initial effort was worthwhile. May his memory be a source of great warmth, to you and his loved ones,  —Dan-el, Collegiate ’02 Alex de Laszlo:  Dear Lorri, I have very fond memories of Mitch as a kind and interested soul and mentor. I was the recipient of many acts of kindness which went beyond his formal role as teacher. I remember he gave me his thesaurus which I suspectwas his personal desk copy. His involvement with the Film Club and his support for what we now call “creatives,” of the Collegiate community knew no bounds. When Colin Reed and John Lidstone retired, he rescued the club from oblivion. I also recall that Mich lent me the club's 16mm Bolex to shoot a project even though I had technically graduated.      After graduation: I also remember that we all went out for celebratory drinks and Teacher’s Pub. I had just turned18, regardless, nobody asked for I.D. My how things have changed! I value tremendously Mitch's support for my application to Media Study Buffalo, State Summer School of the Arts program. The two Summers I spent there were pivotal for my appreciation and knowledge of film. After graduating college, I worked as a film editor in New York City for some years. I then went on to work in a Film Archive in Park Ridge, N.J., thus allowing me to combine my interest in film and history. Subsequently, I worked as a Collection Development Librarian at CUNY for many years and just recently retired.      My deepest condolences to you Lorri. Mitch was a wonderful man, and I imagine, a terrific companion for you. I hope you find some solace in this note. Please let me know if you have any plans for a memorial service. With sympathy, —Alex de Laszlo Alexi Worth:   What a lovely man he was! Projecting probity, humor, clarity, warmth, and thoughfulness, even in the briefest exchanges. Writing those sentences I could suddenly imagine him giving me a wry eyebrow, as if to say, "Don't you think she knows all that?" I wish you every good thing in this difficult time.  —Alexi Worth, Collegiate 1982 Andrew Turner:  Hi Lorri, I am sorry to hear of Mitch's passing — I heard through David Jelinek who I understand was able to see him only days ago. Mitch was my art teacher throughout my 12 years at collegiate. I loved my classes with him, and I loved his passion for teaching. I recall so much about my time in his art rooms, from when I was in first or second grade and we made hard-cover, bound books with pictures and a story (along with an audio cassette recording of the story, which I've desperately, unsuccessfully tried to find multiple times in the past 10 years...) to the printmaking class that I took with him in high school, where I acquired a love for silk-screening and the processes/technical side of printmaking (including photo-emulsion), which definitely contributed to my career in engineering and manufacturing. Recently at home, I have found great joy in teaching my 9-year-old sons ome of what Mitch taught me: making silk-screened gifts for our family, linoleum-printed birthday party invitations and thank you cards, as well as exploring what can be done with printmaking. I have thought about Mitch often in these moments.      As I'm sure you already kno, he has impacted generations of students at Collegiate helping create artists of all forms — professionals and amateurs — as well as providing appreciation and understanding of art to boys in a place that so desperately needs it. Warmly,  —Andrew Turner (class of ’98). George Beane:  Dear Lorri, I just wanted to let you know how sorry I was to hear about Mitch's passing. He was my teacher 30+ years ago, and I still remember him vividly as a kind, patient and encouraging teacher. Warmly,  —George Beane Jonathan Blaugrund:  Lorri — I was very sad to hear about Mitch's passing today. Of course, as a former Collegiate student, I might properly address him as Mr. Cramer. I'm not sure on my exact Collegiate dates but I was somewhere in the order of 1972-1984, so I now realize that he was just a young teacher, when I was just a young student.      Wanted to relay to you that he touched the lives of all us boys and was such a kind, thoughtful and lovely human. Makes me sad to think of a world that he's no longer in. But then I think about all the many lives he had some small hand in shaping. I like to think many of us are a bit calmer, kinder and grounded after knowing him.      This is a strange memory, but I'll share it anyway: You have to think back to the early 70's to another world where there was a holy terror of a shop teacher named Mr. Hoffman. No shade on him, but he would scare the living shit out of us boys. When Mr. Hoffman got mad (which seemed to be all the time and in every class) he'd slam his great shop brush on the table to emphasize a point.      Enter Mr. Cramer. Imagine how different it was to have a teacher who would engage us and listen to us. Still we would test the limits of any teacher young or old. I remember there was a time when he got really mad at the class (believe me, in most cases, we had it coming). He was red in the face and said something like, I want you to write this word a 1000 times on the blackboard. And then he thought about it, looked at the class and said, “That's too harsh. Let's just do this instead.” In that moment, he was considerate, he was vulnerable and had adjusted our sentence in real time. He was no longer angry; he was measured and allowed the punishment to fit the crime. Not sure he'd ever remember that, not sure why I do and why that stays with me, but authority and vulnerability are a strong combination and a balance I'm always trying to strike. Sorry for your loss. With sympathy,  —JB Lucas Tanner:  Hello Lorri, I am not sure you remember me but I was deeply fond of and connected to Mitch. I always looked up to him and indeed loved him and one of my favorite teachers in my life. We must have met in 1972 and worked on some incredible art and film projects in the 70s. All of that remains a big part of who I am today. My two sons also knew him as students, and Mitch truly connected with my sons and helped them connect with themselves through art. He was always kind, generous, honest, and caring and I was so fortunate to have known him for 50 years as a student and a parent. My love and thoughts are with you at this time.  —Lucas Tanner Rick Singer, Stephen Gutwillig, Jim Janover and Billy Stern, Class of 1982:  Dear Lorri, We just wanted to express our deepest condolences on your loss. Mitch was our Film Club teacher back in fifth and sixth grades in 1974 and 1975. He could not have been more fun nor allowed us to have more fun. Our main claim to fame was a short film we made called “Big Red,” about a giant strawberry that went around the city, consuming random strangers simply out for a stroll. (This was a direct rip-off of “Jaws,” except, y’know, with a strawberry.) We absolutely adored him. His enthusiasm and humor were contagious, and we relished that sparkle in his eye whenever he watched what we had filmed. It was a very formative time for all of us, and we couldn’t have been luckier to have a teacher who fostered and encouraged our creativity more. He was the ultimate mensch and lives on as a fantastic memory of our time at Collegiate.      Sending you tons of love and appreciation,  —Rick Singer, Stephen Gutwillig, Jim Janover and Billy Stern, Class of 1982 Peter Dillon:   Lorri, So sorry to hear of Mitch's passing. I think we arrived at Collegiate the same year. He was great. I was never a talented artist, but I really enjoyed spending time with him in the middle school film club. We made everything from abstract films with Moody Blues soundtracks to Charlie Chaplin knock offs. Mitch played a significant role in helping us find our voices. Later, as I became a teacher, principal and superintendent, I would check in with Mitch on our education philosophies, our work at Teachers College and the state of the world. His 49 years at Collegiate were an incredible gift. Lots of us are celebrating him and thinking of you. —Peter Dillon ’84 James Brunswick:   Dear Lorri, I write with deepest sympathy for your loss, and fond remembrances of your husband. I am an alumni from the class of 2006. I'm still in touch with a group of about 12 alumni from my class every day via a group text chat -none of us who had any particularly special calling or talent in the arts - and still, immediately when the emailwent out from Collegiate about his passing, we were all talking about how wonderful Mr. Cramer was. He was such an important part of Collegiate. He lives on through us and the countless other students he impacted. With love,  —James Brunswick Mike Wigotsky:  Dear Ms. Cramer, I was very sorry to see the news about Mr. Cramer‘s passing. I very much enjoyed learning with him (I started at Collegiate in 1975 and graduated in 1986). He was a big part of my early and middle years at the School. I hope your memories of him remain a blessing.  —Mike Wigotsky '86 Trevor Koob:  Dear Mrs. Cramer, Thank you for the time you shared your husband to teach me at Collegiate. To this day I am strongly influenced and have special memories of time in Mr. Cramer’s classes learning about animation, sewing, pottery, the list goes on. He will always have a place in my memories, and I hope to share the lessons learned with him with my own children. Thank you again, and my sincere condolences for your loss.  —Trevor Margaret Dixon, Librarian at Collegiate:  Dear Lorri, Mitch was such a kind, wise, presence in my life at Collegiate. I will always be grateful for the way he generously would share friendship and good fellowship whenever possible. Take care,  —Maggie Dixon