Steel executive assisted those restarting careers
THOMAS DANA CRAMER | July 19, 1928 - Jan. 26, 2017
Thomas Dana Cramer’s legacy isn’t limited to the work he did. It extends also to the work he was able to help others do.
Mr. Cramer spent 35 years as an executive with U.S. Steel before retiring after the industry slumped in the 1980s. He then turned his attention to finding employment opportunities for business people who were similarly marginalized while they still had something to contribute.
“He looked around and saw how many people were out of work and didn’t know how to handle it,” said his daughter, Carolyn Cramer Sanford. “He would meet with them and rebuild their self-esteem and their resumes. He would identify their skill sets and work on their interviewing techniques and identify jobs that would be potential wins for them. It rewarded him personally to be able to help other people. It was part of his personality, working with people and helping people.”
Mr. Cramer died Jan. 26 at his home in Fox Chapel. He was 88.
Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Cramer graduated from the University of Michigan’s Graduate School of Business in 1950. But before launching his career, he served as an Army officer during the Korean War.
Upon leaving the service, he accepted a position with U.S. Steel in sales and product management. The job brought him to Pittsburgh, where he met and married his first wife, Elizabeth, and settled in Fox Chapel.
“He was a natural-born salesman,” his daughter said. “As a successful project manager, he had to deal with production and sales, clients. He ran the products. He was a skilled negotiator and a very talented people person. He had to work to make everybody work together and make everybody happy. ‘Networking’ should have been his middle name.”
Those qualities proved essential when Mr. Cramer accepted an early retirement and began focusing on his new career as a “headhunter” for local industries.
“Tom had a really easy manner about him,” said Rob Woodings, president of Munroe Inc., a heavy equipment manufacturer founded in 1835 on the North Side. “He was a very thoughtful, empathetic, precise partner. He listened to what we wanted and then he would find the right guy. There’s a lot of turnover in business, and we’re an oldline company. I wanted people to buy in to that.
“Tom brought us together with four executives and every one of those hires is still with us. I attribute that to Tom’s nature, his ability to listen. He was a people person.”
In 1996, Mr. Cramer went to work for the Pittsburgh office of Boyden Executive Search. Tom Flannery, a managing partner with Boyden, said Mr. Cramer’s contacts in the steel industry were invaluable.
“Tom was gregarious, always a gentleman, and he always had a smile on his face,” Mr. Flannery said.
Mr. Cramer’s first wife died in 1965, and in 1968 he married Phyllis Curtis. He retired from Boyden in 2002 and started his own company, Cramer Marketing Associates, working well into his 80s.
Mr. Cramer also devoted decades to Fox Chapel, serving as a member of the borough’s Environmental Advisory Council.
“He was very active on it for many years,” said Fox Chapel Mayor Alex Scott, who served with him. “He was very enthusiastic and very interested in the environment and the parks in Fox Chapel. He would be involved in tree removals, storm water management and things like that, and he was just very good at that. He had a lot of insight into what was best for the community without being heavy-handed. He had a very nice manner of trying to influence people without being over-bearing.”
Mr. Cramer often could be seen walking his dogs in Riding Meadow Park. He also was a member and past president of the Fox Chapel Racquet Club and a member of Fox Chapel Rotary. He served as a judge of elections volunteered at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and the St. Margaret Foundation. He also carried on his knack for career advice by working with Carnegie Mellon University undergraduates.
He is survived by his children, Carolyn Sanford of Fox Chapel, Cynthia Lackey of Fox Chapel, Lawrence Cramer of Fox Chapel, Dana Copeland of O’Hara, Arthur Curtis III of Phoenix, Lauren Curtis of San Antonio and Peter Curtis of Oregon, Wis.; and 10 grandchildren.
Visitation is from 5-8 p.m. Feb. 10 at Weddell-Ajak Funeral Home on Center Avenue in Aspinwall, followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at Christ Church Fox Chapel on Squaw Run Road East. Donations may be made to Foxwall EMS, 145 Squaw Run Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238, or the Pittsburgh Zoo at One Wild Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.