{"id":452,"date":"2011-06-27T21:04:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T21:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/?page_id=452"},"modified":"2011-06-28T01:37:46","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T01:37:46","slug":"melissa-kramer-always-asked-why","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/?page_id=452","title":{"rendered":"Melissa Kramer always asked ‘why?’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Editor\u2019s note: The <\/em>Cincinnati Enquirer published the following article on Oct. 1, 2010, a few days after Lissa\u2019s death.)<\/em><\/p>\n

By Janice Morse, Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em><\/p>\n

Fairfield Township\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 \u00a0From the time she was small, Melissa \u201cLissa\u201d Kramer always asked profound questions, her dad says, starting with, \u201cBecause why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, many other people are asking that sort of question about the death this week of the University of Cincinnati student and Covington native who authored a book, \u201cThe Inclines of Cincinnati,\u201d which explores the city’s historic hillside transportation systems. She was 41.<\/p>\n

An initial investigation indicates Ms. Kramer’s husband, Dale, 57, fatally shot her and then himself in an apparent murder-suicide. Police found the pair dead in their home Monday after a relative expressed concern about an undisclosed marital problem.<\/p>\n

There was no official ruling on the case as of Thursday.<\/p>\n

Ms. Kramer\u2019s father, Gerald McNabb \u2013 who also was a friend of his daughter’s husband for more than two decades \u2013 says he prayed their souls would be at peace.<\/p>\n

He fondly, vividly recounts his daughter posing a stunningly probing question when she was just 2: \u201cHere she is with springy blond curls and these beautiful blue eyes, she looked up at me and said, \u2018Because why?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was looking for understanding or resolution as to why things are the way they are,\u201d her dad says. \u201cThat\u2019s really all of mankind\u2019s question . . . When she lost her life, God answered her question \u2013 all those profound questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNabb said he plans to deliver a eulogy with the theme, \u201cBecause why?\u201d at his daughter\u2019s funeral, set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Webster Funeral Home, 3080 Homeward Way, Fairfield. Visitation is 5 to 8 p.m. today. McNabb wants his daughter to be remembered for her compassion, determination and spunk. Since age 1, she battled juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

He fell in love with her before ever laying eyes on her.<\/p>\n

He explains: One night, as he lay by his pregnant wife\u2019s side in their Erlanger apartment, his unborn daughter awoke him. \u201cShe kicked me between my spine and my left kidney . . . I fell in love with her at that moment,\u201d he said Thursday. \u201cI can remember that moment crystal-clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Melissa McNabb was born a few months later, on June 19, 1969. She spent her early years in Covington. The family moved to Hamilton, following her dad\u2019s job as an electrician, then to Fairfield, where she graduated from high school.<\/p>\n

The feisty spirit she exhibited in the womb persisted throughout her life.<\/p>\n

She rarely let her arthritis get her down, although it forced her into a wheelchair and disrupted her architecture studies at UC when she was in her 20s. She later returned to her studies there in journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time she\u2019d get beaten down, she\u2019d spring back,\u201d her dad said. \u201cI mean, can\u2019t you just love that?\u201d<\/p>\n

She endured multiple surgeries and suffered extreme pain in her hands. In spite of that, she used colored pens and markers to produce detailed renderings of historic architecture. Her dad plans to display some of her artwork at the funeral home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would typically take her 40 hours to do one of these,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Her mother, the former Peggy Whaley, died of stomach cancer in 2002 at age 56.<\/p>\n

McNabb says his daughter and wife were both exuberant women who cared deeply about others.<\/p>\n

His daughter did volunteer work helping senior citizens. She conducted tours of historic homes with the Cincinnati Preservation Association in recent years.<\/p>\n

According to the University of Cincinnati, Ms. Kramer was close to finishing its journalism program, although she hadn\u2019t applied for a degree.<\/p>\n

UC journalism graduate Taylor Dungjen, 22, who now lives in northern Ohio, said fellow students appreciated the mature perspective Ms. Kramer provided.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very unassuming and nonjudgmental,\u201c Dungjen said, \u201calways very warm and very kind, always very interested in other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could always count on Lissa to be one of the people you could go to, whether it was about school or more personal things.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Ross.<\/p>\n

Besides her father, Ms. Kramer leaves two children, Zachary Kramer, 19, and Savannah Webster, 14, who lives with grandparents in Northern Kentucky; a sister, Kristina Swank; a brother, Michael McNabb; her grandfather, Forest McNabb; and her grandmother, Elydia Smallwood, both in Northern Kentucky.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note: The Cincinnati Enquirer published the following article on Oct. 1, 2010, a few days after Lissa\u2019s death.) By Janice Morse, Cincinnati Enquirer Fairfield Township\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 \u00a0From the time she was small, Melissa \u201cLissa\u201d Kramer always asked profound questions, her … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":367,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452\/revisions\/462"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/melissakramerscincinnati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}