Daniel Kramer
Daniel E. Kramer, 89, of Yardley, Pa., died Jan. 8, 2018.
Mr. Kramer graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1946 and Columbia University School of Engineering in 1950, where he was elected to Sigma Xi, the honorary research society, and Phi Lambda Upsilon, the honorary chemistry society. After graduation he continued research at Columbia’s Engineering Center on nuclear heat transfer.
After leaving the Dupont Project in 1953, he began at Kramer Trenton Company, a Trenton-based manufacturer of air- and water-cooled industrial refrigeration machinery. After serving as laboratory technician, during which he applied for his first patent, he was national service manager, then chief engineer, from 1964 to 1988.
He held 36 U.S. patents, and was honored as New Jersey Inventor of the Year in 1990.
In his capacity as chief engineer he was a popular speaker on refrigeration topics at numerous ASHRAE and RSES meetings and national and regional conventions. He authored many published technical papers on refrigeration, most in the ASHRAE Journal.
He was an early proponent of and author of papers on natural refrigerants that have no global warming effect.
Following retirement he was an active consultant specializing in commercial and industrial refrigeration and a popular speaker on the subject of the ozone problem and on the use of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon mixtures as substitutes for chloro-fluoro-carbon (CFC) refrigerants. He acted frequently as an expert witness in cases involving losses and injuries arising from the operation, malfunction, or non-operation of refrigeration and air-conditioning systems and their components.
His expertise was recognized throughout the world. In 1992 he delivered lectures at the University at Rostov-on-Don in Russia. He was invited to consult in Novosibirsk, Siberia, in 1998 and in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2000.
He also was a 1976 graduate of Temple University School of Law and was a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars and a patent attorney. He served as chair of the ABA subcommittee on Inventor’s Compensation. From 1988 to 2008 he had an active individual patent practice, specializing in refrigeration inventions, with worldwide clientele.
He held a private pilot’s license for single-engine planes and for years piloted his own Aeronca Chief high wing airplane.
He was an active pistol marksman and competed frequently. In 1972 he won the Eastern three-gun (22-, 38-, and 45-caliber) pistol championship over several hundred competitors. He had a gunsmith’s federal license and specialized in accurizing 45 automatic pistols for members of his gun club, Citizens R&R of Princeton Junction.
A non-competitive runner, he ran two miles every morning before breakfast from 1962 to 1992.
Predeceased by a son, Matthew Alan, and a daughter Susan (married to Edward Feinberg), he is survived by his wife of 67 years, Doris Silk Kramer; a son, David (Suzy); four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Services were held Jan. 12 with arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.
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