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Alvin W. Kremer, Jr
"Webb"

Company F-1

30 Nov 1939 - 14 Sep 2007

Place of Death: Washington, DC

Interment: Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC

It is with great regret and sorrow that we must inform you of the death of our Classmate, Webb Kremer, on September 14, 2007 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC after a long and courageous battle with esophageal cancer.

Webb is survived by his wife, Judy and their children Todd and Brooke.

Relatives and friends may call at Jefferson Funeral Chapel, 5755 Castlewellan Drive, Alexandria, VA  22315 on Friday, September 21 from 2 to 4 pm and 7 to 9 pm.

Funeral service will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, 3313 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, VA  22201 on Tuesday, November 27 at 12 Noon with interment following at Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Attn: Office of Development, Research Building, Suite E501, 3970 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC  20057.

The family asks that you sign the guestbook.

Condolences may be sent to the family at 3706 Bent Branch Road, Falls Church, VA  22041.

Well done, Webb. Be thou at peace.

Remembrances:

Class Memorial Pages\F-1 Webb Kremer.pdf

Obituaries:

Alvin Webster "Webb" Kremer Jr., 67, an Army colonel whose final active-duty assignment was at Fort Knox, Ky., as director of the Armor School's command and staff department in 1990, died Sept. 14 at Georgetown University Hospital. He had gastroesophageal cancer.

Col. Kremer spent 29 years in the Army, in which he became an armor officer. He settled in the Washington area after his retirement and was a consultant for defense contractors in Alexandria. He worked until a few years ago for Alion Science and Technology Corp.

He was born in Washington and raised in Arlington, where he was a 1957 graduate of Washington-Lee High School.

He was a 1961 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and in 1969 received undergraduate and master's degrees from Georgia Tech, both in mechanical engineering. In 1991, he earned a master's degree in international transactions from George Mason University.

During his military career, he was a graduate of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the Naval War College at Newport, R.I. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War.

His military decorations included three awards of the Legion of Merit and four awards of the Bronze Star.

His memberships included the Crystal City-Pentagon Rotary Club and Arlington's Faith Lutheran Church, where he served on the council. He was a former president of the Sleepy Hollow Woods Civic Association in Annandale and most recently lived in Falls Church.

He also belonged to Revolutionary War and Civil War round-table discussion groups. He had also been a Boy Scout leader during his military career.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Judith Heatwole Kremer of Falls Church; two children, Stephen T. Kremer of San Diego and Brooke A. Kremer of Falls Church; and a brother, Larz F. Kremer of Washington.

The Washinton Post

Taps Memorial Article:

 

Alvin W. Kremer Jr. 1961

Cullum No. 23545-1961 | September 14, 2007 | Died in Washington, DC

Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, VA

 

Alvin Webster “Webb” Kremer Jr., the oldest of two sons of Alvin Webster and Anna Foy Kremer, was born in Washington, DC. He grew up in nearby Arlington, VA and particularly enjoyed visiting his relatives every summer in Winchester, VA, his father’s hometown. Webb had a great interest in history, and Winchester was replete with that. After graduating from Washington and Lee High School in Arlington, he entered West Point, having received a congressional appointment from Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia.

At West Point, Webb was remembered by his classmates as not getting anxious about exams, taking them in stride and doing well. He was also remembered as always being ready for physical fitness tests and passing them easily, including the obstacle course. He was a voracious reader and especially liked reading and learning about the American Civil War. This knowledge helped a great deal when he worked much later on the class project at Reconciliation Plaza, which depicts many scenes from the Civil War. Webb was also known to play Caribbean music on his hi-fi, particularly that of Harry Belafonte. His roommates thought this unusual, as he was from Virginia!

Webb was a member of the Debate Council and Forum, the French Club, the Dialectic Society, the Pistol Club, the Ski Club and the Gymnastic Club while at West Point.

While on the cow trip, Webb met his future wife, Judy, at Virginia Beach. They discovered that they were both from Northern Virginia and had attended rival high schools and that they had actually attended the same football games, sitting on opposite sides! They were married after graduation and left for Webb’s first assignment in Germany and the beginning of his career in Armor branch.

Webb and Judy were to live many years in Europe, with four assignments in Germany and one in SHAPE, Belgium. While living in Germany they were able to visit almost all of the European countries. While living in Belgium they visited many of the NATO countries and made many friends from these countries who were stationed at SHAPE. While living in a small Belgian village they were able to practice their French, which both had studied in school. They particularly enjoyed their home there, a former tavern over 200 years old with marble floors, leaded-glass windows and a large wine cellar! In their garden they produced vegetables, some of which their Belgian neighbors had not seen. Their years there were certainly enjoyable.

Webb attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta and received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS and the Naval War College at Newport, RI as well. In Germany, he commanded the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Illesheim and was the chief of staff of 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwohr. His final assignment was as the director of the Command and Staff Department of the Armor School at Fort Knox, KY. While at Fort Knox, as well as in Atlanta and Germany, Webb worked with the Boy Scout program and was president of the PTO at Fort Knox High School. A Vietnam veteran, his military decorations included three awards of the Legion of Merit and four awards of the Bronze Star.

 After retiring from the Army, Webb and Judy returned to their home in Northern Virginia with their children, Stephen Todd and Brooke Ann. Webb also obtained another master’s degree, from George Mason University. He was a consultant for defense contractors in Alexandria, working finally for Alion Science and Technology Corporation.

 Webb was involved in community activities after retiring, including the Crystal City-Pentagon Rotary Club and Arlington’s Faith Lutheran Church, where he served on the church council. He served as president of the Sleepy Hollow Woods Civic Association in Annandale and belonged to Revolutionary and Civil War round-table discussion groups.

 Webb and Judy enjoyed traveling in retirement and went back to Germany twice while their son was stationed there with the Army. They were able to visit places which had previously been behind the Iron Curtain that they were unable to see before. In 2001 they celebrated their 40th anniversary in Hawaii and again returned there in 2006 with several couples who had been good friends from the Fort Knox days. Several months after returning from Hawaii, Webb was diagnosed with gastro-esophageal cancer. He bravely fought this for 16 months, refusing to be discouraged. He finally lost his battle with the disease on September 14, 2007 and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors in November of that year.

Webb will always be remembered for his kindness, his loyalty, and for his love of friends and country. How he would have loved his two young grandsons whom he never knew! We will be certain that they learn of his bravery, his dedication to the ideals of West Point and of his commitment to family.

 — Judith Heatwole Kremer and John Fischer, roommate