Norma Kramer of Chevy Chase died peacefully on August 1, 2025, in Bethesda, Maryland at the age of 97, surrounded by four generations of her beloved family.

Born on April 2, 1928, as the only child of Bertha and Bernard Lederman in Brooklyn, New York, Norma was a passionate, determined, fiery, and quick-witted woman who built her life around her close-knit family.

Norma was a playful and sharp-witted young person, who enjoyed going to the movies, ice skating, and shopping in downtown Brooklyn. Norma started one semester of college at Hunter College in New York before she met the love of her life, Samuel David Kramer, at a relative's wedding in Baltimore, Maryland. As she always liked to say to her grandchildren, as she encouraged them to move faster in their own relationships, "I met my husband on a Sunday, he proposed to me on a Wednesday."

During their short courtship, Samuel wrote letters to Norma multiple times a week in his signature penmanship, expressing how much he missed her from DC, coordinating every detail of their pending wedding, and ending every letter with, "I love you with all of my heart." Norma married Samuel, a Washington, DC-native, on December 22, 1946, in Washington, DC. They settled in Chevy Chase and had 4 children - Alan, Mark, Gary and Susan. Samuel worked his whole career at Kramer & Sons - the butcher and paper goods store in the Union Market started by his father - while Norma led their busy household and called the shots for the family.

Norma was passionate about her children and fought hard for each of them to succeed in school and their careers. She nurtured their innate talents and ensured they could pursue advanced education, going onto become a doctor, nurse, dentist and an architect. Norma developed close relationships with her children's partners - Anita, Margi, and Lida - who she considered her own daughters.

Norma and Sam maintained an active social circle, regularly going out for dinners and trips with Sam's brothers and their wives, and her close friends at Indian Springs Country Club ("The Club"), where she gathered every Wednesday to play tennis and Mah Jong for decades. Norma took several international trips to Europe and Israel, where she loved to go on adventures and do one of her favorite passtimes: shopping. Norma was an avid reader, loved to knit, bake her signature mandel bread and kugel recipes, and get her hair done at the beauty parlor every Saturday where she also got the "scoop."

Norma's most proud accomplishment was her large and tight-knit family. Her 10 grandchildren — and eventually her 10 great-grandchildren — were the center of her world. Norma had an incredible ability to maintain a close and unique relationship with each of them. During the summers, Norma and Sam hosted weekly Sunday pool parties, where the whole family gathered for poolside cookouts. Norma hosted a regular rotation of sleepovers with her grandkids, where she enticed them to watch movies in her den on her "black box" that got all the latest hits on pay-per-view TV, and chocolate chip pancakes in the morning. Norma loved to take her grandchildren shopping for their favorite toys — American Girls dolls, action figures, or Beanie Babies — to McDonalds for Happy Meals, and to the movies on the weekends to watch the latest blockbuster. Sunday dinners at Parkway Deli and their infamous pickle bar were a weekly ritual not to be missed.

Norma and Samuel notably cared for Norma's mother Bertha, a Jewish Russian immigrant who lived in Brooklyn most of her life. When "Grandma Bertha" moved into the house in Chevy Chase in her later years, Norma became known as "Baba" and Bertha became known as "The Baba." Caring for her mother and having her grandchildren form a bond with their great-grandmother from the old country was a true honor for Norma.

After her husband Samuel died in June 2010, Norma resided at a Chevy Chase apartment down the road of their house of six decades, renovated by her son Mark to look nearly identical to her house so she would feel comfortable in the new setting. In her later years as her grandchildren started their own families, Norma had the pleasure of being a great-grandmother and regularly hosted her 10 great-grandchildren at her apartment. Norma continued an independent and active lifestyle through her last days, regularly hosting her grandkids at the apartment for Chinese takeout and movies, and getting together for birthday and Jewish holidays.

Norma is survived by her children Alan (Anita), Mark (Margi), Gary (Lida), and Susan, her grandchildren Sara, Bradley, Lance, Bianca, Brandon, Jared, Renee, Jennifer, and her 10 great-grandchildren. Norma is also survived by her best friend and caregiver Cristina Lefimil, who spent 40 years by her side until her final days.

A funeral will be held at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, 8215 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814, on Sunday, August 3rd at 11am, followed by a burial at 1:30pm at King David Memorial Gardens, 2712 Hollywood Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042. Shiva will be held at the residence of her son Mark Kramer on Sunday, August 3rd at 7:30pm, and at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County on Monday, August 4th at 7pm. Donations can be made to Congregation Beth El. In Norma's Memory

Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.