Obituaries
F. Richard “Dick” Cramton, 88, of Middlebury
MIDDLEBURY — Dick Cramton, 88, of Middlebury and Burlington, passed away at Porter Health and Rehabilitation on Dec. 4, 2020, after a fall from which he could not recover. Many thanks to the staff of Porter who were kind and caring to him and our family.
Dick grew up in Jenkintown, Pa. He was captain of the football team, played trumpet, and was valedictorian of his high school class. He graduated from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Afterward, he married his first love (Nan), whom he met working summers during college as a camp counselor in the Pocono Mountains.
He served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. Forty-seven years of marriage produced two daughters, a home and business they built together and a lifetime of other adventures. He lost Nan to cancer in 2000.
He worked as head of Research and Development at E.B.&A.C. Whiting Co. He designed their building on Pine Street in Burlington now occupied by Dealer.com. Dick started his own manufacturing company, Engineered Monofilaments Corp. in Williston, which was his passion. He loved developing custom products for his customers all over the country and has over 20 patents in his name. He treated his employees like family.
Dick’s passion for music and singing, with his lovely bass voice, led him to sing in various choirs and community choruses throughout his life. It brought him solace after losing Nan and led him to his second love (Betty Thurber). Thus began the next chapter of adventures, music, love and a new blended family. Together they built a second life together devoted to service to the Congregational Church of Middlebury, singing, and traveling to places such as Alaska and Panama. Dick enjoyed skiing and sailing on Lake Champlain beginning with his first family and continuing when he rented a camp on Thompson’s Point each summer for his blended family.
Dick was recently predeceased by Betty. He leaves behind his two daughters — who loved him to pieces — Holly, and Deb and her partner Joe Mattison and numerous nieces and nephews. He also leaves his step-children, Lyn (Ferdinand) Lauffer, Sara (Rick) Marshall, Bill Thurber and many step-grandchildren.
Dick was smart, witty, charming, adventurous, generous and a good man. He believed in, and practiced, giving back. Please consider a donation to your favorite charity or church to honor him. Funeral arrangements via zoom are pending and will be posted with Sanderson Funeral Services. ◊
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