Cramer, The Honorable William C. ?Bill,? 81, of St. Petersburg, FL, passed away on October 18, 2003 from complications related to a recent heart attack. Mr. Cramer was born in Denver, CO on August 4, 1922. Considered the father of the modern Republican Party in Florida, Mr. Cramer was the first Republican since Reconstruction elected to the U.S. Congress from the State. A member of the Greatest Generation, he served his nation first in war and then in peace, leaving behind a legacy of accomplishment in many fields. Before recounting what he did, it is important to remember and celebrate how Bill Cramer lived his life. He was a man of constant good humor and a boisterous laugh that could be recognized across a crowded room. He made friends from all walks of life and counted many colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, among them. He had the rare gift also of a great intellect combined with dedication and perseverance, from which great careers are made. He fought tenaciously for his position on issues, but did so with integrity and a civility sometimes missing in modern politics. Bill Cramer cherished his family, and they have many memories of special times together in politics, as well as fishing, hunting, golfing and travels. He instilled in his children and grandchildren his love of life, determination to give back to the community and realization that there are no limits to what one can accomplish. Beginning at an early age, Bill Cramer sought and attained positions of responsibility and leadership, while exhibiting academic excellence. He was a three-time winner of the Outstanding Student Award and served as president of the student government at St. Pete High School. He was class President and an honors graduate of St. Petersburg Junior College in 1943. Mr. Cramer enlisted in the Navy Reserve and served as a lieutenant jg on active duty aboard the U.S.S. Omaha, participating in the invasion of Southern France. Upon leaving the service, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1946. He then went on to graduate in 1948 from Harvard Law School. Upon returning to his hometown of St. Petersburg, he began the practice of law in partnership with former Mayor, Herman Goldner. Mr. Cramer achieved a number of early successes obtaining a judgment against the Pinellas County Sheriff for excessive use of force and winning a pioneering employment practices case. Almost immediately, Mr. Cramer also embarked on a political career that would remain intertwined with his legal career for the rest of his life. A Republican in what was then an overwhelmingly Democrat county, in 1950 Bill Cramer engineered the first of many stunning political victories. In that year, he was both a successful candidate for the Florida House of Representatives and the campaign manager for the Republican slate that for the first time won a majority of Pinellas County seats for the Republican Party. He then served as the first Minority Leader of the Florida House, managing to increase the number of Republicans there to five by the time of the completion of his single term. He also served as Chairman of the Florida Electoral College, casting a ballot for the 1952 election of President Eisenhower. During this time he also practiced law as the Pinellas County Attorney. Active in national Republican Party affairs, Bill Cramer served between 1953 and 1955 as Vice Chairman of the Young Republican National Federation. After narrowly losing a 1952 race for the U.S. Congress, in 1954 he was elected the first Republican since 1875 to represent Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. This began a long and distinguished career in the House, with Mr. Cramer?s reelection to the 85th through 91st Congresses. While there, he became the ranking Republican on the House Public Works Committee and its Roads and Federal Aid Highway Investigating Subcommittees. He also served on the Judiciary Committee. In these positions, he sponsored and co-sponsored many important legislative initiatives, including the original act creating the interstate highway system; the Cramer-Howard Act authorizing construction of the interstate highway link from Tampa to Miami and I-275 through St. Petersburg; the Anti-riot Act; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and the 24th and 25th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. While in the Congress he was elected to senior leadership positions by his Republican colleagues, including vice chairman of the Republican Conference 4th ranking member in the House and of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. As a freshman in Congress he was one of two members of his class inducted into the Chowder and Marching Society, an informal House Republican leadership group he participated in for almost 50 years. In 1970, President Nixon recruited a number of senior House leaders, including Mr. Cramer and George H.W. Bush, to run for the U.S. Senate. All but one of these senior House Republican leaders lost their Senate races, including Mr. Cramer?s. A life-long Republican, Mr. Cramer was a delegate to every Republican National Convention between 1952 and 1984, and was Chairman of the Host Committee at the 1968 convention held in Miami, Chairman of the Rules Committee at the 1972 convention and chief counsel to the 1976 convention. He also served for 20 years as the Republican National Committeeman from Florida. Between 1973 and 1979, he was appointed general counsel to the Republican National Committee. Upon leaving elective office, Mr. Cramer resumed the active practice of law. During this period he was Chief Counsel for Gerald R. Ford in his Vice Presidential confirmation hearings before the Senate and the House, the first time a Vice President had been appointed under the newly ratified 25th amendment to the Constitution. Mr. Cramer also served as a counsel to President Ford in his pardon of former President Nixon. Mr. Cramer?s practice also included representing both foreign nations and local governments in their relationships with the U.S. federal government. A pioneer in opening up commercial activity between the U.S. business sector and China, he hosted the first U.S. trade mission to China after the U.S. normalized its diplomatic relations with that nation, and he hosted the first U.S. trade fair in China in 1980. Always interested in teaching young people about government, he returned to his alma mater, St. Petersburg Junior College, to teach national and state government part-time beginning in 1992, and he taught national government at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus. He was also instrumental in establishing the Center of Excellence in Logistics and Technology, which provides educational opportunities to the U.S. military in affiliation with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, another alma mater. Mr. Cramer was active in many civic and fraternal orders and he was a 32nd Degree Mason. He received numerous awards, including being named an Outstanding Political Leader by the Young Americans for Freedom, the national ?Significant Sig? award by Sigma Chi Fraternity, and the 1992 Leroy Collins Outstanding Community College Graduate Award. He was also a member of the Bar in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Cramer is survived by his wife, Sara E. Cramer, and by his three sons, William C. Cramer, Jr. of Panama City, FL; Mark C. Cramer of Charlotte, N.C.; and Allyn W. Cramer of Dothan, AL, from his first marriage to Alice J. Cramer. He is also survived by eight loving and proud grandchildren: Emily, William, Christopher, Ryan, Philip, Cara, Allyn and Jack; as well as two stepsons, Richard D. Hilber of St. Petersburg, FL and Jason E. Hilber of Odessa, FL. Friends may call on Wednesday October 22, 2003 from 5:00PM until 8:00PM at Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes & Cremation Tribute Center- Bobbitt Chapel, 7820-38th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. A Funeral Service will be held on Thursday at 11:00AM at Pasadena Community Church, 227-70th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33707. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorial contributions in his name to the St. Pete College Foundation, P.O. Box 13489, St. Petersburg, FL 33733 or to Pasadena Community Church.