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arlo

MEMORIES, FUNNY STORIES, PICS: Mariann Kramer

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Wow. Just remember another great moment.

This is the first time I met Mariann...in 2001 on the Women's World Record.

We were on the same airplane together and thought it would be "funny" to stage a "cat fight" at 2,000 ish feet in the airplane.

Told our camera guy to get it on video and sure enough..she yells from near the cockpit "Hey Beatch here are some "floaties" since you have such a fat arse...stop going low" I yelled back from near the door..until we finally dove at each other into the center of the airplane...pulling hair, scratching, blah blah blah...

We found it very funny...in retrospect not really appreaciated on a record attempt..got a "talking to"

But funny nonetheless.
It is mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack, not rationality.
-Black Mamba

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I don't have any memories or funny stories of her, but I wanted to add my condolences to those who will be suffering badly now...her family, friends, and colleagues. May peace come to you soon.

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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I have a couple of requests from Steve Kramer who is Mariann's ex-husband and of course the father of Mariann's wonderful 6 yr old boy, Garrett:
1. In lieu of flowers you are welcome to donate to a fund setup for Garrett's college. You can send your donations to 2044 Needham Dr. Allen TX 75013.
2. If you have any video showing Mariann (not just turning points, but something showing her personality) for Garrett, please send a copy to the above address or e-mail it to [email protected] (not .com).

Mariann was a free spirit with a strong will. I am glad I was able to enjoy another skydive with her just a couple of weeks ago. She will be missed by us, her friends, but most of all, by Garrett.

- Blue Skies - Richard

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i met mariann at the chicks rock boogie party 2002. her reputation preceeded her. a mutual friend of ours, craig, had told me that i should meet mariann. he said we were two peas in a pod and would get along perfectly.

so yeah, the party on saturday night at chicks rock - fiala was spinning. everything was shiny. so i look around and i saw this chick...in the middle of the dance area. she was covered in glitter, sunglasses, club clothes, dancing like a mad woman. but the kicker was she was holding up a camera and she was videoing herself dancing and narrating. i just busted out laughing because i knew it immediately.

"you're mariann kramer, aren't you? i'm arlo. i'm supposed to meet you." :)
she's told me for years that she still has that meeting on a dv tape somewhere (she wasn't exactly the most organized person) and that she'd make a copy for me. we'd hear each other tell that story whenever anyone asked how we met. :D

there are so many more stories...SO many. god i loved that girl so much (as alot of people did) and all i can do is remind myself that she would kick my ass if she thought i was being a miserable f*ck sitting around crying about her being gone. tough shit mar. i miss you but we will celebrate your life...and that's a promise. you're a rockstar, baby.

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Thanks Arlo for starting this post and Richard Andro for the additional information on Steve and the families wishes. Especially the information on Garrett. He's such a wonderful little boy and many of us have been lucky enough to watch him grow up around SDD. Not to mention he's my wife, Tiffany's, boyfriend!

Mariann and Rick Duran had a vision about 5 years ago. Rick likes to call his method "Pay It Forward" and has done other things with this since. But their original brain child was Confusion 8... they wanted to give from their experiences and recruited 6 newbies, I think 5 of us had less than 100 jumps. And so Rick and Mariann, eventually along with Lou Massey, Sean Rawls on video took 6 newbies, wet under the collar and began giving us some of the greatest/cheepest coaching any skydiver could ever get. THIS was Mariann in every sense of the word, she'd happily and literally give you the shirt off her back.

Pinky V made it through 4way TSL only with the ground and exit training and time Mariann and Lou would give AT each and every TSL... of course because we didn't ever practice. All while they were competing themselves.

Had plenty of fun/funny/party times at Mariann's place up in McKinney, most of those stories will be kept locked away :) . But I think somebody has some great pictures of that first Christmas Party at her place at least.

Then at the Schrimser boogie 2003 I was the lucky draw for the first Texas Pink Patch attempt of the boogie. For those of you that don't know, it's a 20way Texas Star, 19 ladies and this lucky guy here. One of the gals took the wrong slot on the jump and it almost didn't make. Mariann, sooooo on the top of her game and heads up left her slot, flew over, grabbed this girl, pulled her into the correct slot and allowed the final two of us to slide in. It ended up being the only Pink Patch to make and hold the entire boogie... maybe even since?

For funny video, you should probably see Sean Rawls, got some funny stuff from the Confusion training... especially the documentary of Lou's funnel of the exit after 30 straight. That's got to be some kind of record for newbies, nailing 30 straight 8way exits. Most at the dz thought Mariann and Rick were crazy and it wouldn't be safe. I think they proved everyone wrong and am proud to be a part of it.

We've had a blast, and I'm sure Mariann is having one right now hanging out with John and the others.

We love you Mariann!
Donnie, Tiffany and Mason (sorry you never got to meet our little man)

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Quote

One night I will never forget with Mariann was the TSL finials last year.



I will never forget that night. She picked me up when I had 70 jumps or so and taught me how to become a teammate. She was my mentor. I was angry at her a couple of times but I always knew that she will be there when I needed help or advice. That night she called me brother ...

cannot write anymore ...
[:/]

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She was a sky-fairy-princess, who seemed to love what she did, and being who she was.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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My favorite memories of Mariann

Meeting her right when she started jumping (at Gainsville I believe..wow, so long ago) and hearing her story of going through AFF and riding the plane down multiple times. Until Roger Nelson was able to coax her through it.

Getting her first head down dock. She was so smooth I had no idea it was a first until she exclaimed it on the ground afterwards.

The gatherings at her and Steve's house. Especially the one that was the last time we all hung out with our dearly departed friend Carter.

All the nights of music and dancing

Watching her train students at the horse stables. It was cool getting to watch a side of her life that people at the DZ didnt see.

Seeing her spirit in recovering from injuries and continuing to jump.

Our last sit-down conversation after I moved back to Dallas, catching up on each others lives since I was gone.

So many memories I just couldnt list them all here. Mariann was such a dear friend and we will all miss her presence and spirit immensely. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, especially to Garett.
_________________________
goat
derka jerka bukkake jihad

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Mariann was incredibly pretty, had an adorable son, wore sparkly eyeshadow even on Tuesdays, and used to intimdate me until I got to know her better, at which point she terrified me.

She made world-record jumps, but still found time to coach our fledging four-way team.

Blue skies.
Skydiving is for cool people only

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(no joke long ago...... hard to believe.... I still have video of Roger flying that last boogie in Gainesvile.)

Mariann and i were never close.... but i've had the opporunity to make more than a handful of jumps with her. I've seen her bring the life to more than one party. Dancing the night away.

There was never a question if she was in the room.... Vibrant .. full of energy.... and incredibly inspiring. Heads turned when she would strut across a pack room floor.
A few things happened (to me) today when i turned on the news today. A. shock... followed by disbelief

B. an incredible longing to be rejoined with my flying friends... I've unfortunatly not been LIVING my life to its fullest lately. And have denied myself what a dropzone and all the good people around them bring to this world

C. Inspired.... the energy left in the wake of her passing will certainly fuel people and skydivers for many many years to come.


-white mike
Quote

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I've got hundreds of good stories. Here's 1:
Nationals 1999 in Sebastian, Mariann 6 mos. prego with Garrett. She jumped her ass off but couldn't get down on the creepers to dirt dive so our cameraman filled in for her. She talked us all into dying our hair purple (team color) and painting our nails purple for the meet. What FUN we had!!
I love you Mar,
Brett

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WOW - Unfortunately and fortunately all that the same time, I just met Mariann in May 2006 when I was lucky enough to be invited to train with her in Colorado. She was coming back to swooping and as I am a newbie this year, I was investing in some coaching......We flew in and met Jim for a week of swoop training and from the minute I hugged her at the airport, I knew she would make a lasting impression on my life - and my growth in swooping. Her contagious energy on each and every ride up not only helped me relax but reminded me that this was something I LOVED and it was FUN, as well as a challenge. We spent a great week with Jim and cemented an awesome friendship. Lots of text messages back and forth and before long, I saw her again a month later at the PST event where I watched her make her mark back into the PST. She gave it her heart and soul - that is for sure - and always had a smile and much thanks for anything anyone wanted to share with her. Before the weekend was over, we talked about our next training weekend together......and I felt excited to not only have made such a great new friend but to also have such a great person as a role model....she was always supportive even when I wanted to beat myself up and never let me cloud the progress I continued to make.

My heart aches as I think of the loss but I feel truly blessed to have had her touch my life.

May the sparkles be plentiful Mariann and the sunshine endless on the flight you now take....

Hugs.........Denise

Dreams become reality, one choice at a time...

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It is hard to think of what to say, Marianne, really made an impact on my life with just a few words of understanding.

I was lucky enough to spend about 30-45 minutes of one on one time with her at a party in colorado a few months ago. she is someone who can see right through anything. I am amazed still until now on how well she really understood me. she made a large impact on me with just a few words, after something like that happens, you know you have a friend for life.

I was looking forward to meeting you again Marianne, and I still am.:)

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this so surreal... I've gotten so used to missing her since I moved that it's hard for me to realize I'm not going to see her again, in this lifetime.

mariann represented all I want to be in the sport: giving, free, limit-less, humble, super cool, and a hard-core kickass chick!

I miss you girl!

memories and such:

wearing red shoes, orange socks, purple stretch pants with green shorts over it, and a pink shirt on our one-and-only 2-way freefly jump at Elsinore - just to make me laugh! Wyat Drews - where's my video???

convincing me to jump on a 24-way as superfloat when I had 120ish jumps - getting rid of my "i don't have a belly suit" excuse by giving me one of hers to keep (that I still wear)
then flying by to give me a smile and a thumbs up before flying to the otherside

stan schrimsher made these itty bitty shorts out of parachute pieces - which no one would even try on, but she wore them for hours at a party

dancing at a club all night, by dirt-diving 4way - you should have seen the awed whuffos around us!!! B|

queen of the dance

red wine and thai food

our "team" rigs

fantasy skydiving

so many I can't keep them straight right now

Mariann,
Always
River-dancing.

Inspiring.
Ass-kickin'!
Never-ending
Nonsense


I was always smiling, and usually laughing, anytime I was with you. You inspire me to be my crazy self, always knowing that no matter how crazy I get - you'll always be better at it! hahahahaha :P
I love you so much!
Deva
PMS #24 RDP #1 RDP #2
To fly, we have to have resistance. - Maya Lin

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Two weeks ago Mar needed an RW jumpsuit, so she borrowed one from our good friend and teammate. It seemed to fit well until she looked down to realize that the booties were about 1o inches too long …:o Mar grinned and said: "well, perhaps I should try it with high heels"

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Mariann was a great inspiration to me as I turned to her for advice when I was pregnant with my now 5 year old daughter. She was one of only a few women skydivers that continued to jump while pregnant and really helped me with my decision on jumping and at what month to safely stop (in our opinions). Many people gave me a bad rap for making 55 jumps while pregnant but Mariann... offered me her stretchy jumpsuit so I could keep going while I was growing!! Thanks girl!!
The last 5 years when we saw each other, she always gave me a hug and we swapped child stories and pictures of our little ones. I also ride horses and we swapped a few horse stories too. She was a great organizer and always willing to help you with your skydiving skills.
Attached is a picture of Mariann at the 2005 Womens Texas State Record, of which she helped organize at SDD. She is the 3rd from the right, 2nd row, just behind the 2 girls on 1st row.
Such a versatile person, I'm glad we came to meet and may God Bless her soul and her family, especially Garrett.

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Wow, I'm speechless. I just heard the news. Mariann..... whew, all I can say is Nationals 2003..... Mariann knew how to do it, and do it up right. Love to you gf, only love. And to quote another beauty in my life..... shine on, girl, as a good sister should.

xxxo Mel

__________________________________________________________
http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/teams/EXCEL/basic_camp.html

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Mariann. The first time I met her, she was celebrating the days end of 4 way at Spaceland - partner in crime was her teammate Griz. He was wearing this...freakish funky-pimp hat, and I think a feather boa - and at his side was this glittered stick of dynomite, Mariann.

From all I've read, and with only a couple of times I've talked with her - she was always on fire - Just this person you meet and think "wow!"

Simply put: inforgettable.

She really left her mark in this world. My heart goes out to all of her family and friends as you remember her life and laughter.

I'm glad to have known her.

God Bless & Eternal Blue Skies

-S


is

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sideline to the thread (sorry!!):

richard, goat, or anyone at sd dallas: i spoke with lou yesterday and of course he's not doing well. as of our phone convo yesterday, he thinks the services will be held this THURSDAY.

as soon as someone knows this is concrete or hears ANYTHING different, please PM me, post or call PD and contact me. i'm guessing seth or jim w will also have some info. if someone has chip kibler's contact info (his # was in a phone that ate crap) please PM me.

SD Dallas: if you plan on having a separate "skydiver" memorial type thing, please lemme know this as well if you don't mind. would love to share stories with you folks....you've been in my thoughts all week. my heart goes out to you.

thanks and sorry for the non-related insertion. long week.:(

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I have updated information about the college fund set up by Steve Kramer for his and Mariann's son, Garrett. In lieu of flowers, you can send donations to:

Legacy Bank of Texas
ATTN: Garrett Kramer memorial fund
8910 Preston Rd
Frisco, TX 75035

Thank you, I know Mariann would appreciate anything you can do for Garrett.

p.s. Don't forget to send any video/picture you can of Mariann to [email protected] or via snail mail to:

Richard Andro
2044 Needham Dr
Allen TX 75013

Everything will go to Steve Kramer for their son Garrett.

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