Delva Rae Kremer

Delva Rae Kremer, 84, of Sacramento, California was taken home to our Lord on November 12th, 2024. She was born on September 11, 1940 in Placerville California, the youngest of three children to Roy and Clara Scheiber. She was an energetic, spunky, joyful and active child, despite surviving both a ruptured appendix at age 4 and polio at age 12. She graduated El Dorado High School in 1958 and California State University Sacramento in 1963 with her teaching credential. 

She was wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend to many. Married to Ron Kremer on June 30, 1963, they soon started their family three years later with their first son Andrew and then two years later with their second son, David. 

She is survived by her husband Ron Kremer, her sister Donna Smith, and her sons Andrew and David Kremer, as well as five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. 

She is preceded in death by her parents Roy and Clara Scheiber and her brother Leroy Scheiber.

The funeral service will be held at the First Baptist of North Sacramento, 2601 Del Paso Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95815 on Saturday November 23rd, 2024 from 10:30-noon, preceded by a viewing and followed immediately by a reception.

For more details about Delva’s life well lived, please see her eulogy posted below.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the First Baptist of North Sacramento or Shriners Children’s Hospital of Northern California would be appreciated.

Delva Kremer’s Eulogy

Delva was born on September 11, 1940 in Placerville California. She was the youngest of three children with her brother Leroy a little more than a year older and her sister Donna who was 3 years older. Delva and Donna were the only girls born to that generation of the Dixon’s and Scheiber’s. Her parents Clara and Roy Scheiber took her home from the hospital to their apartment located above her parent’s bar business. When Delva was just a couples months old they all moved down the street to their family home that Roy built on Fowler Lane in Diamond Springs. Her siblings remember her as energetic, spunky, joyful and active. She had a normal childhood filled with sibling rivalries and household chores. 

At 4 years old, Delva’s appendix ruptured and she was almost taken away from us then. She spent several months in the hospital fighting infections when her family doctor used an experimental drug, sulfa, which eventually cured her infections. 

Funny story, Delva told Ron, when she was about 5 years old there was an evacuation alert for the area around their house so Roy told the children they have a couple minutes to pack there essentials. A few minutes later the alert was cancelled but her dad asked the children to show him what they had packed. Delva’s bag was completely packed with dolls. 

As a young child Delva was involved in Brownies and Girl Scouts. Her mom Clara was a Girl Scout leader. Her dad Roy closed the family store business every Sunday and they often took drives in the sierras to visit cousins, have picnics and see the fall colors. During one of the Girl Scout camp outings which included horseback riding, Delva’s horse took off on a run, she held on tight and rode it out until the rest of the group could catch up. Also being that “get it done” girl she was, later on that same trip her dad’s truck got stuck in the mud and Delva and the other Girl Scouts grabbed twigs and sticks to fill the ruts so Roy could drive out. 

Her parents would send her and her siblings to Sunday school every Sunday at the Diamond Springs Community Church. There she made some of her lifelong friendships with Marlene (Rasmusen) Ellsworth and Dorothy Johnson. They lived near each other and enjoyed many activities together in elementary school through high school. They continued until Delva’s death, to keep in touch with each other. Sometimes getting together for lunch, even though they lived in different cities. 

At age 12, Delva was diagnosed with two types of Polio, one affected her lungs and the other, her muscles. She was admitted to the Children’s Hospital in San Francisco where she stayed for several months. She was almost taken away from us then as well. When she returned home, her parents and siblings took an active role in her rehabilitation. Her father even built a swimming pool in the backyard to assist in her rehabilitation. The Polio had put limitations on her, but she was back to being active by the time she was in high school. She enjoyed spending time with their close family friends the Forni’s and Snider’s where she would horseback ride and Jeep in the back country. Roy taught her to fish, but she soon stopped fishing once he made her put the worm on her hook.

Lillian and Bill Drew were close friends of Delva’s parents, some would say they were her second parents. The Drews had lost a daughter during childbirth and never having any other children of their own, so they sort of adopted Delva. Lillian with her sewing and Bill with his auto repairs, Delva learned a lot of well-rounded skills while spending time hanging out with them.

Once Delva graduated high school, she wanted to attend a Christian college, but her parents insisted that see attend a state college. She was frustrated and told her Sunday school teacher that nothing good will come out of her going to the California State University Sacramento.

Delva met Ron on the first day of college in the first class, Speech 1A. Her and Ron had to stand up and talk about themselves for one minute. Delva said that she was a Christian during that minute. Ron did the same. After class they began talking about their common interests. Each day after class they would walk and talk on campus. She lived in the dorms and sometimes Ron would walk her back there when the classes were over. Soon Ron was showing up and looking for her in the cafeteria at lunch time. The next semester when students enrolled for their new classes, Ron and Delva ended up being together in most of their classes. (What an amazing coincidence, wink, wink.) After that she could not get rid of Ron.

When they became serious and started talking about marriage, Delva’s Mom said to Ron, “Delva can’t get married until she finishes college.” There was a little wedding chapel near the college and they teased about getting married there while still in college. Her mom must have not liked melons because she was always saying, “You cantaloupe.” They got married a week and half after she graduated on June 30, 1963. 

They both became teachers. Delva taught kindergarten and Ron taught elementary school. Just after their third anniversary they were blessed by the birth of Andrew. Shortly after the birth of Andrew, they bought their family house in Sacramento which became a home. Two years later they tried for a daughter, but instead we were blessed with another boy (David). This is when the fun really began. 

They decided that it would be best if Delva became a stay-at-home mother. In fact she listed her occupation as a homemaker, but she was still very much a teacher to the boys, and when they started school she became a home-teacher for the school district.

She was always involved with the boys in school activities, not including the trips to the principal’s office for something David did. She became a den mother for the Boy Scouts, helped on school field trips, and drove the kids all over town for various activities.

At home she became the book keeper, tutor, chef, nurse, psychologist, referee, taxi… and she also became a Sunday school teacher. It would have been so much easier for her to go to work as a teacher, but not nearly as rewarding.

Raising two boys while Ron was at work was not an easy task for her. The boys were always into something, keeping her on toes. Many days when I would get home from work, she would meet me at the door with a funny look in her eyes and say, “Take them outside, or I’m going to kill them.” Insanity is hereditary… you get it from your children.

Delva made their home a gathering place for the neighborhood boys. They usually hung out in the garage, and she always made snacks and had drinks for them. Most of the boys were latchkey kids, but one of them in particular became an informally “adopted” son. Brian was soon staying for dinner several nights a week.

Delva was always there, but more importantly, she was always present. She would multitask throughout the day. She dropped off and picked up boys from activities, paid the bills, finished the laundry, and still had dinner ready for all of us to sit around the table together (including Brian most nights).

Delva ran a tight ship trying to keep the family afloat financially, with many paper lists tracking bills and expenses, in fact, Ron would only have a couple bucks and a blank check in his wallet at any given time. Once every year or so she would have to give him a new blank check as the one in his wallet had worn bare. 

Delva was a devoted wife and mother. There wasn’t a day when she didn’t send Ron off to work without a kiss, and never failed to meet him with a kiss when he returned. They were an amazing example to the boys and others of what a healthy, loving, respectful relationship looked like. When the boys grew up, moved out, and started families of their own, Ron and Delva entered a new phase in their lives.

They were able to do some traveling to see her sister Donna and her husband Jim in Ventura during the winter and enjoyed boating and clearing brush in their forest property in Idaho in the summer. They began to fly to Saint Louis to see Andrew and his family in the spring and fall after Ron retired after teaching for forty years. They even dared to fly to Japan when Andrew was stationed on the naval base on island of Kyushu. Delva loved the freedom of travel. They enjoyed going to soccer games and watching Michaela and Caroline play. They watched Dylan and Caroline progress through the ranks of Tai Kwan Do. 

Delva was extremely proud of her two sons both growing up to be professional and respectful; one the sailor and the other a geologist. Both sons raised families of their own; Andrew now retired, living in Southern Alabama and David nearing retirement, living in Sacramento. Despite her failing health later in her life she never failed to enjoy spending time and playing with her grandchildren; Katie, Michaela, Caroline, Don, and Dillian and her great grandchildren; Elena, Nikko, Gabby, and Alina. 

Delva got a crafter’s business license and became skilled in the use of the scroll saw and cut out many wooden crafts, which Ron would sand and paint for her. Then she sold these items at craft shows. When she retired from crafting due to arthritis in her hands she still continued making wooden presents for her family. As her stamina began to fade, Ron and the boys found it quite humorous that she would find her way outside where she would supervise her sons working on projects and repairs that were needed. Always offering unsolicited advice on how to do something correctly.

The evenings were often spent doing something together, sometimes a cut-throat game of gin, or a very competitive game of Scrabble, or simply snuggling on the couch watching a movie or favorite TV shows. They also enjoyed having kids and grandkids over for dinner and games.

As Delva’s health declined she was less active, but still determined to do the things she loved, in spite of becoming a fall risk. They had several scares with serious falls, episodes of congestive heart failure and bladder cancer, but she beat the odds and blessed the family with several more years of her presence.

In her last fall she broke her hip and had to have a high risk surgery. With all of her health conditions they gave her a thirty percent chance of surviving. Her reply was, “Go for it!” Delva came through the surgery with flying colors. The nurses found out that Ron was planning to spend the night sleeping in a chair next to her bed. They arranged to have them moved to a private room for the night. The next day the trauma from the surgery caused a fatal episode of congestive heart failure leading to a heart attack. Right up to the last hours of her life she was cheerful and encouraged the nurses and those around her. In the hospital she was surrounded by friends and family, as well as receiving a number of encouraging calls from loved ones.

Delva blessed us all with her presence!