Fred and Emma Kramer Endowed Scholarship

Fred Kramer, retired chairman of First Federal Savings and Loan Association, La Crosse, Wisconsin, remembers one rider in particular from his days as a motorman on La Crosse street cars. That man, a Mr. Low, then operated the La Crosse Business School and later taught at the Coleman Vocational School, now Western. Kramer, who had only an eighth grade education, became acquainted with Low because he was a regular passenger on his streetcar.
“He wanted to know why I didn’t attend college and become something different than a street car conductor,” Kramer said. With Mr. Low’s encouragement, Kramer attended Mr. Low’s business school, and became a bookkeeper, while working on the city’s streetcar. He served as La Crosse City Clerk and Controller for many of his 24 years with the city. In 1951, he was elected secretary-treasurer of First Federal Savings Bank, where he later was president and chairman prior to his retirement.
Kramer always wanted to give the same encouragement he received to others. He has endowed what he called “a small scholarship fund for those interested in furthering their education.”
“I’m trying to see that someone who needs a little help succeeds in getting an education that they probably wouldn’t get some other place,” he said.
Fred died November 26, 1994, at the age of 98.