Obituary of Donald Hogan Cram Jr.

Donald Hogan Cram, Jr., 84, after a long battle, finally succumbed to Pulmonary Fibrosis on the night of Monday, May 8, 2023.

Born on September 13, 1938, in Stamford, CT to Anne and Donald Cram, Don’s family moved to Texas as fast as they could. After attending Catholic elementary schools he graduated in 1956 from Laneri High School. He received his BS in Finance from Texas Christian University in 1961. Don proudly served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Don married his dance partner for life, Kay Kutina, in 1963, and they had a son and three daughters. Don was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend. He loved spending time with his family wherever they were, gathering together in New Orleans, San Francisco, New York City and Kauai. Don also enjoyed traveling abroad, any TCU sporting event, his faithful dog Buddy and was known as the honorary “Mayor” of Overton Park in Fort Worth.

With other members of his family, Don established Cram Mortgage Services, Inc., where he worked in management capacities for more than three decades. During his mortgage banking career, he served as director of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. He also was a board member of Texas Commerce Bank and JP Morgan Chase. The company ultimately sold, enabling Don to pursue his other entrepreneurial and philanthropic passions at an early age.

Don has long been counted among TCU’s most involved alumni, serving on the National Alumni Board and acting as president of the Fort Worth Chapter Board. A highly spirited Horned Frog fan, he was a member of the Frog Club Board and the Committee of 100. He was a Patron of the Clark Society, and he and his wife, Kay endowed the Donald and Katherine Cram Scholarship. TCU honored Don with the Alumni of the Year Award in 2010.

Deeply involved with the Catholic Church, Don was on the building committee for Saint Bartholomew in Fort Worth. He sang in the choir, participated on the board for the food pantry, and facilitated a men’s bible study while at St. Andrew. He served on the Pastoral Finance Committee for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, as board treasurer for Cassata High School, and as a board member and past president for Saint Francis Retirement Village. He previously was president of the Serra Club of Fort Worth and district governor of Serra International, as well as president of the Fort Worth Diocese Catholic School Trust. As a former board president of Guardianship Services, Inc., Don also served as a volunteer Probate Court-appointed guardian. Among his other civic achievements he chaired as president on the Fort Worth City Plan Commission for two years. He is the former director of Schola Cantorum of Texas and the Texas Boys Choir and Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Nancy Dalton and his brother-in-law, Doug Kutina.

Don is survived by his wife, Kay, his children, Donald Cram, III and his wife Catherine, Kendall Koetje and her husband Joel, Kathleen Torres and her husband Anthony, and Amy Davis and her husband Jon. Don loved his grandchildren Carter, Maida, Grace and Mason Koetje, Kendall Cram, Trevor, Renae and Spencer Torres, and Samantha and Scarlett Davis.

The Cram Family would like to express their gratitude to Alpha Omega Hospice and especially Sara, Joan, and Camille.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Visitation: 4 – 6pm, with a Rosary at 4:30pm, on Sunday, May 14, at Thompson’s Harveson & Cole Funeral Home, 4350 River Oaks Blvd.

Mass of Christian Burial: 11 am Monday, May 15, St Andrew Catholic Church, 3312 Dryden Rd.

Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, should friends desire, memorials may be given to St Francis Village, Guardianship Services Inc. or Catholic Charities.