Farewell to Dr. Bob Kramer, Who, for Five Decades, Took Care of Dallas' Children

My pediatrician died Monday. Maybe he was your doctor, too. Not long ago I asked Dr. Robert Kramer how many kids he thought he'd seen since he moved to Dallas, for keeps, in 1963. Too many to count, he said with a smile, between the private practice, the various medical centers he founded and hospitals where he was on staff, his two decades as The Hockaday School's medical director and, perhaps most significantly, his revered work in this city and around the world trying to keep children diagnosed with cystic fibrosis alive. "When we were kids, he used to say, 'Do you want to do something fun today? I have to make rounds, but it'll be quick,'" said his daughter Megan, one of four girls born to Dr. Kramer and his wife Joan. "Then it would become a whole day. Then we'd go to five different houses to check on people. He was always going to check on someone. I can't even imagine the numbers. He was being honest when he said he had no idea. And you never grew out of being a patient of Dr. Bob's."His name was Dr. Robert Kramer. But that is how most people referred to him: Dr. Bob. His patients, his closest friends, his family.  Continue reading...