Comics: Grace Kremer, Letterer

Grace Kremer was born Grace B. Callori on March 16, 1924, in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her parents were Gustav Robert Callori and Mildred C. Tufaro. Kremer’s birth date was found at the Social Security Death Index and the birthplace was recorded on her death certificate which was transcribed at Ancestry.com.

A 1925 Jersey City city directory listed Kremer’s father as a clerk and his address as 176 Boyd Avenue.

In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Kremer and her parents resided at 392 Fulton Avenue in Jersey City. Her father was a traffic clerk.

Kremer’s sister, Phyllis, was nine years old in the 1940 census. Kremer had completed two years of high school. The Callori family remained at the same address.

Kremer graduated from Snyder High School in June 1941. She was on the art staff of the school yearbook, The Scroll, and contributed unsigned drawings.

At some point Kremer found comic book work in New York City. She was a letterer at Ace Publications and worked on the title, Hap Hazard, which was drawn by Warren Kremer, his first comic book assignment. In his book, The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times! (2006), Mark Arnold wrote: “It was also in 1947, that [Warren] Kremer married his longtime letterer Grace (whom he met while working at Ace); and in 1948, he started freelancing for Harvey Comics.” Some of her credits are here.

The New York, New York, Marriage License Index, at Ancestry.com, said the couple obtained their license on October 27, 1947 in Manhattan. The license had Kremer’s middle initial, B.

The 1948, 1952 and 1954 Harrison, New Jersey city directories listed the couple at 32A Garden Terrace NA. The 1955 directory is not available and they were not in the 1956 directory.

The Kremers were in the 1957 Bloomfield, New Jersey city directory which had the address 77 Golf Road.

When Harvey Comics ceased publishing in 1982, the Kremers worked for Marvel Comics in the second half of the 1980s. Samples of their art and lettering are here.

Top Dog #10, October 1986, Marvel/Star Comics

The Kremers were interviewed in Comic Book Artist #19, June 2002. The cover of Harveyville Fun Times!, Volume 14, Number 53, Winter 2004–2004, published a photograph of the Kremers holding that issue of Comic Book Artist.

Kremer’s husband passed away July 24, 2003. An obituary is here and a profile here.

Kremer passed away on August 5, 2012, in Bloomfield, New Jersey. The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), August 7, 2012, published an obituary.

Grace (nee Callori) Kremer of Bloomfield, N.J., passed away peacefully at her home on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. She was 88.

Visitation will be at Frank Halpin’s Brookdale Funeral Home, 1284 Broad St., Bloomfield, on Wednesday, Aug. 8, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral will be Thursday, Aug. 9, at 9 a.m. from the funeral home. The Funeral Liturgy will follow in Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, 60 Byrd Ave., Bloomfield, at 10 a.m. Entombment will be in Gate of Heaven Mausoleum, 225 Ridgedale Ave., East Hanover, N.J.

Born in Jersey City, N.J., Mrs. Kremer had lived in Bloomfield for 55 years. She was a freelance artist for Ace Magazine, Harvey Comics and Marvel for more than 40 years. She was a former member of the Bloomfield Art League. Mrs. Kremer was predeceased by her husband, Warren Kremer. She is survived by four children, Richard Kremer, Maryanne Ames and her husband, Allen, Peter Kremer and Suzanne Petrozzino and her husband, Ron; a sister, Phyllis Antoshak, and two grandchildren, Alicia and Michael Petrozzino.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to the Alzheimer’s Foundation (alz.org).

Comics Letterer Posts

A. Machine and Royal Cartoon, Mario Acquaviva, Gerald Altman, Gene Barnett, Vivian Berg, Daniel Bhang, Ray Burley, 

Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Milton Cohen, Ellen Cole, Herb Cooper, Danny Crespi, 

Jon D’Agostino, James Daleo, Martin DeMuth, Shel Dorf, Marty Epp, Howard Ferguson, Herb Field, 

Gerda Gattel, Louis L. Goldklang, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter, 

Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok, 

Bob Lander, Bob Laughlin, Bob Leatherbarrow, Shelly Leferman, Joe Letterese, Veda Lufkin, 

Robert N. MacLeod/Leroy Lettering, Lee Maroshek, Jack Meltzer, Jim Novak, Bill Oakley, Ben Oda, 

Otto Pirkola, Fred Proctor, Jerry Robinson, Joe and Sam Rosen, George Roussos,

Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Rome Siemon, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman, Daisy Swayze, Zoltan and Terry Szenics, 

Richard Deane Taylor, Alberta Tews, Irv Watanabe, Leo Wurtzel, John Yakata, Bill Yoshida, Bernie Zuber

Women in Comics Posts

Jeanne Alippe, Ruth Atkinson, Olive Bailey, Valerie Barclay, Vivian Berg, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Ellen Cole, Corinne Boyd Dillon, Anahid Dinkjian, 

Barbara Clark Fogel, Evelyn Gaines aka Lynn Lovelace, Merna Gamble, Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Jane Krom Grammer, Anita Greene,

Bonnie Hano, Ray Hermann, Joye Hummel, Marjorie Wilkes Huntley, Grace Jacquet, Charlotte Jetter, 

Anna Kaufman, Bessie Mae Kelley, Nadine French King, Alice Kirkpatrick, Grace Kremer, Pauline Loth, 

Veda Lufkin, 

Marion McDermott, Emma C. McKean, Tarpé Mills, Claire S. Moe, Lily Reneé, Ruth Roche, 

Georgette Sauterel, Marie Severin, Marcia Snyder, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Serena Summerfield, Daisy Swayze, Terry Szenics, Claire Szep, 

Alberta Tews, Peggy Zangerle

(Next post on Monday: On the Road with The Boss)