Longwood University
09/09/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/09/2026 12:06
Impact in memoriam: A love of teaching lives on through Kraemer University Professorship
In 1962, in Northern New Jersey, Richard and Carole Dawson Kraemer '67 met on a blind date. Richard had just finished his freshman year at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, while Carole was entering her senior year of high school. The two hit it off immediately, so much that Carole-"Of course, with my encouragement," joked Richard-soon decided to enroll at Longwood University, conveniently just over 100 manageable miles from her eventual husband.
"I learned pretty soon how to hitchhike from Williamsburg to Farmville," Richard said.
In 1966, after spending many a weekend on each other's campuses, Richard and Carole married and began a shared life that spanned nearly six decades. Richard's career-first as a chemist and later as a residential homebuilder and chief executive of UDC Homes-took them from New Jersey to Texas and North Carolina, and ultimately to Arizona, where they and their family made their home for most of their marriage.
"I could not have had a better and more loving partner," Richard said, pausing to collect himself. "I still get emotional talking about her. We were married 58 years, and we never had a major disagreement, and when we did not agree on something, we were always able to resolve it quickly in a way that was acceptable to both of us."
Carole passed away in 2023 after a three-year battle with cancer. Her life was as rich as it was long, as evidenced by the lifelong friends she made at Longwood, her and Richard's three children and three grandchildren, and her longstanding involvement in numerous community organizations, including as a trustee of the Arizona Theater Company and the Desert Botanical Gardens, and as a member of the Arizona Literary Society.
And while her legacy lives on in the stories told by her family and friends-"And she had many, many friends," Richard said-it will now be recognized in perpetuity through Longwood's Carole A. Kraemer '67 University Professorship endowment.
Established by a generous gift from Richard Kraemer in honor of his late wife, the perennial fund will support a leading faculty member within Longwood's Teacher Preparation Program. The program spans multiple academic departments and is designed to prepare future educators to serve diverse student populations, regardless of major or subject matter.
That mission is one of Longwood's longest-held and one that was dear to Carole, an English major and Dean's List student. After graduating from Longwood-doing so in just 3.5 years-she embarked on a brief but personally impactful career in education. She taught for several years at an inner-city school in Dallas, and then in Boston, before stepping back to care for her and Richard's growing family.
[Carole] really enjoyed teaching-especially in Dallas with underprivileged children. That was what she thrived on: helping children and seeing them progress and grow.
Richard Kraemer"Once we started raising a family, that was her full-time interest," Richard said. "But she really enjoyed teaching-especially in Dallas with underprivileged children. That was what she thrived on: helping children and seeing them progress and grow. If she were here and you asked her, she would say that was overwhelmingly the most rewarding part of the profession."
Carole taught language arts during her stint in the classroom, leaning on her foundations as an English major and a lover of literature. And while her time as a formal educator was short-lived, she carried her teacher's mentality and love of learning throughout her life, including as a mother to her children-Richard, Ashley and Jeffrey-and her involvement in the community.
"She was a wonderful mother. She was extremely understanding in all aspects of her life, and she always looked at the positive side of things," Richard said. "She developed lifelong friendships through her involvement in the theater company, the botanical garden and the literary society, and I hesitate to say what her favorite book was because she was always reading and it was always changing."
Moreover, Carole's desire to positively influence the lives of underserved children also took the form of an earlier gift to Longwood. In 2017, she and Richard made a gift to Longwood's Speech, Hearing and Learning Services (SHLS) program to expand Camp JumpStart, a 10-day summer literacy initiative for preschool and kindergarten-age children. The program builds literacy skills for young children, and-thanks to the Kraemers' donation nearly a decade ago-has since expanded to include children with language delays and disorders, such as hearing loss and autism.
As with the Carole A. Kraemer '67 University Professorship, the inspiration for that gift came from Carole's lived experience. Her sister, Janice, suffered from undiagnosed hearing loss at birth, which presented long-term hearing and speech issues throughout her life.
"[The SHLS gift] was particularly rewarding to Carole, and me, in terms of remembering her sister and trying to create a situation where problems like hers could be identified earlier," Richard said. "We wanted the lives of children experiencing difficulties like Janice's to be impacted more positively."
And while the philanthropic connection between the Kraemers and Longwood was seeded through Carole and her time at Longwood, Richard's affinity for the university grew over time. He returned to campus recently, making the trip from his retirement home in Vail, Colorado, and remains both a philanthropic supporter and cheerleader for Carole's alma mater.
"Carole's experience at Longwood was a good one," he said. "One of her best friends from Longwood was her maid of honor, and we still keep in touch. But the interactions we've had with [Vice President for Institutional Advancement] Courtney Hodges and [President] Taylor Reveley over the years gave me the ability to understand the trajectory of where the university's going. I wanted to support that; but it all comes back to Carole having a great experience as a student, outreach from the development group, and generally improving the field of education."
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