Remembering Kenny Kraemer

By Jennifer Rensch Foundation Manager

Kenny Kraemer made friends everywhere he went throughout his life. He loved interacting with people and could talk to anyone about anything, and his quick wit and hilarious sense of humor delighted all who were fortunate enough to have had the pleasure of knowing him. In the loving words of his mother, Iris, at his memorial service:

From the moment he was born, Kenny brought us indescribable joy...He was blessed with a day school education and a family who kept traditions. When he lived his most trying and challenging years, he was blessed with a family who never gave up on helping him become the person he was meant to be. And eventually, like in the Wizard of Oz, Kenny’s life went from black and white to color... Kenny was blessed with a transformation that turned him into one of the finest people we have ever known. He dedicated himself to his son, Jonah, and as daddies go, he was the champion. He repaired himself and he had begun to repair the world. It is now up to us to live up to his example; he set the bar high.

Kenny passed at a time when he was living and treasuring life to its fullest potential. He cherished his family deeply and had discovered profound purpose in dedicating himself professionally to helping people help themselves. He was a generous and compassionate son, grandson, brother, father, and friend, whose spirit inspired those around him. Through the opening of the Kenny Kraemer Community Unity Fund, the Kraemer family hopes to share that spirit with the entire community.

Kenny will be missed dearly by many; may his memory be for a blessing and his legacy live on in our community. Let us all strive to carry forward that legacy in our own daily living - a legacy that embodies the principle of Tikkun Olam - repairing oneself to then turn one’s focus to repairing the world around them. As Rabbi Lubliner spoke in his eulogy, “Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said...’The deepest wisdom a person can attain is to know that his destiny is to aid and to serve others.’” The Kenny Kraemer Community Unity Fund is a field of interest fund established in beloved memory of Kenneth “Kenny” Kraemer, upon his passing in September 2022. The Kenny Kraemer Community Unity Fund is managed by the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida and will fund projects that enhance collaboration, partnership, and unity for the greater good of the Jewish community, and honor Kenny’s spirit of joyous cooperation.

To give to the fund, please visit jewishjacksonville.org/ kennykraemer, or contact Kellie Smith at the Jewish Foundation: (904) 512-3796.