Maury Sterling Kramer was accepted into the arms of the Lord on Oct. 2, 2023 due to complications following a quadruple bypass surgery.

He was born on Feb. 22, 1964 and welcomed into the family of Norman and Betty (Kissler) Kramer. Maury was born in Idaho and adopted shortly after birth. Norman and Betty brought him home to Minatare, Neb. where Norman farmed and Betty stayed home to raise their children. They later adopted Matt and Carrie and in 1969 the Kramer family moved to Holyoke so Norman could pursue sugar beet farming. Throughout his youth, Maury helped his dad on the farm and got into plenty of trouble driving truck and hauling loads between Colorado and Nebraska. In 1975, at the age of 11, Maury had the great privilege of helping to build the Holyoke Church of Christ building, where he attended faithfully until his death. If Maury were to talk to any one of us today he would remind us to mark off Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and then we can our make plans, those times are for the Lord. Maury was an avid lover of the arts at Holyoke High School, participating in choir, musicals and plays. He has also been a lifelong supporter of FFA and still has a plaque from his time in the HHS organization.

Shortly after high school Maury moved to the Phoenix, Ariz. area where he attended some college, worked and got into some mischief. There, he also met his first wife and expecting his first child, made the move back to Holyoke to raise his family near the support of his parents. Desiree, Kristen, Karina and Aaron were born unto that relationship. In 1991, Maury became the primary parent and support system for his children. Until early in 1996 when he rekindled his friendship with Nola Starkebaum who became his wife on Dec. 14, 1996 adding Clinton and Maddie Starkebaum to what he lovingly referred to as his very own Brady Bunch. Living in Amherst with one bathroom, six kids and a wife was the highlight of his younger years. Assigning numbers for showers, fighting over seats in the Big Black Van and dealing with a constant slew of teenage emotions, Maury thrived through raising his motley crew and he did it with grace and panache.

Meanwhile, he was also taking college classes part time while working hard to provide financially, support his children's many events, volunteer firefighting, providing leadership in the church and being an overall amazing dad and husband. He pursued his teaching degree with humble fervor because it had been his lifelong dream. Maury accomplished that dream in 2008 and became a teacher at Holyoke High School in the math department in the fall of 2010, and shortly after, taking on teaching drivers ed to students area wide. One of his greatest blessings as an empty nester, was the ability to love on his students and continue to spread his wisdom, love and faith through his actions. He loved to teach, not just math, but to teach youth that they mattered and have potential.

Maury also was a passionate lover of singing in the Equally Delinquent quartet with his lifelong best friend Dan, the Cowboy Capital Chorus and assisting with select choir at HHS with his close friend Marcia. There was nothing better than a project, the binzebo being his biggest and proudest through the last few years. Maury found the love of woodworking, creating a special item for each of his family members to cherish, including an HHS bleacher wood lazy susan for each of his kids.

Now, if we all just close our eyes we can see him walking the halls of Holyoke High School dressed to the nines with his tie, hear his keys jingling in his pocket, expecting a great big bear hug and a mint for the road ...

He is survived by wife Nola Kramer of Amherst; brother Matt and wife Amy Kramer and family, Eaton; sister Carrie McMillan and family, Englewood; children Desiree and husband Josh Delehant, Garden City, Kan., Clinton and wife Tori Starkebaum, Laramie, Wyo., Kristen and husband Eric Furlough, Mt. Juliet, Tenn., Karina and husband Dustin Davis, Holyoke, Maddie and husband Morgan Eurich, Holyoke, and Aaron Kramer, Garden City. Maury is also survived by what he considered his greatest blessings in life, his grandchildren, Cooper and Aiden Delehant, Sadie, Peighton and Xander Furlough, Delanie, Riley, Aubree and Hadleigh Davis and Ian and Rory Eurich.