Walter P. Kramarz, 95, of Trenton, died peacefully at home on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Born in Trenton, Walter was a lifelong city resident. He was a graduate of St. Hedwig Grammar School, Trenton Central High School, and Rider University.
He began his employment career with Kaiser Metals in Bristol, PA, and then later Sears Roebuck and Co. before working for the City of Trenton. He retired from the City of Trenton in 1994 after 30 years of services for the Health Department, where he served as the chief sanitary inspector. He also served as a funeral assistant for the former Lisiecki and Caparco Funeral Homes in Trenton and was a well-known figure in many other area funeral homes.
Walter was a proud World War II U.S. Army veteran, having served in General Patton’s 3rd Army, 106th Evacuation Hospital Unit, which moved all through Europe in support of all who needed medical help. Walter served in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe, and received an honorable discharge with the rank of technical sergeant.
Dedicated to veterans, Walter attended the American Legion Leadership College for Chaplains and served as a chaplain for many organizations, including the American Legion, The Mercer County Veterans Council, and Signal 22 Canteen. He also served as a bugler for the Hamilton Township Patriotic Committee and was the memorial bugler for the NJ D.O.T. Among his numerous accolades, he was very proud to be a Chevalier recipient in 2004 from the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France for military and civil merits.
Walter was also involved with many civic organizations – he was a charter member of the North Trenton American Legion Post 458, a member of the V.F.W. Post 15031, the Catholic War Veterans Post 417, the Fraternal Order of Police No. 83, the Mercer County Sunshine Foundation, and the Deborah Hospital, Children of the World Program.
Walter was the son of the late Peter and Caroline Oleksiak Kramarz, husband of the late Anna Gordon Kramarz, and brother of the late, Frances Gorka and her husband, Anthony, and Mary Czaplicki and her husband, Frank, and the Rev. Anthony M. Kramarz. Walter is survived by his two daughters, Patricia Ann Kramarz and Connie Brown and her husband, Bob; his grandchildren, Melissa Francis and her husband, Alan, James Brown and his wife, Christina, Robert Brown Jr., and Michele Donegan and her husband, Mark, and his great-grandchildren, Dominic Francis, Bryan Brown, and Daniel Donegan. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family in Poland.
Funeral services for Walter will begin on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m. at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Rd., Lawrenceville, NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by his cousin, the Rev. Msgr. Stanley Lesniowski, at 11 a.m. at St. Hedwig Catholic Church, 872 Brunswick Ave., Trenton. Burial will follow in St. Hedwig Cemetery in Ewing.