Marian Hope Cramer

Marian Hope (Hull) Cramer, 91, passed away on November 17, 2025, at Bethesda Grand in Willmar, MN.  

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 22, at the Spirit Lake Presbyterian Church near De Smet, SD.  A reception and luncheon will follow the service and the De Smet Event and Community Center.  Interment will be at a later date in the church cemetery. Arrangements are entrusted to the Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar, MN. www.petersonbrothers.com

Marian was born near Frankfort, South Dakota, to George Elmo Hull and Alletta Laura (Hilkemeier) Hull on September 22, 1934. She attended rural school in Spink County. She attended Redfield High School and graduated from Tulare High School in 1952 before attending Huron College for two years, enough to get her certificate to teach rural school. She married Delmar Cramer in 1954, and they had three children, Roger, Laurie and Leanne. They lived and farmed in the Spirit Lake area northwest of De Smet.

She taught music in Willow Lake for 35 years, and taught generations of students to play the piano. Marian played organ at the Spirit Lake Presbyterian Church for more than 60 years. She was an active member of the Presbyterian Women and served as an ordained elder.

One of her great loves was the time she spent hosting tourists at the Prairie School, which now sits on the southwest edge of the Ingalls Homestead. She began teaching at the school in 1986 and was there until just a few years ago. She said she loved telling visiting kids what a rural school was like in pioneer times. She was involved with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant for years and served on its board of directors. She even wrote a few of the pageant scripts.

Marian never imagined she would be a writer, but in her lifetime, she penned hundreds of pages. She presented annual papers on a variety of topics for more than 40 years at the Center for Western Studies History Conference in Sioux Falls. She had deep respect for the stories people shared with her and faithfully shared those stories through her writing.

Her greatest joy was her family, and she never got tired of telling the old family history stories, or of getting updates about her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her children, Roger (Kathy) Cramer of Woodstock, GA, Laurie (Carl) Husmann of Houston, TX; Leanne (Scott) Thompson of Willmar, MN; six grandchildren, Ashley (Jack) Flaherty, Katie (James) Kaliszewski, Casjun Husmann, Samuel Husmann, Aletta Husmann, and Abigail Thompson; two great-granddaughters, McKinley and Clover. She is also survived by her sister, Elna (Norman) Swaney and many beloved nieces and nephews.