- Date Of Birth: April 27, 1950
- Date Of Death: August 2, 2013
- State: Maryland
BEVERLY ROSE KRAMP CLEMONS died in her sleep in the early morning hours of Friday August 2, 2013 at her home in Westminster, MD. She succumbed to the villainous beast, metastatic Breast Cancer after a long, tough and stalwart battle.
Beverly is survived by her husband, Thomas Landon Clemons and their daughter Molly Marie Clemons, both of Westminster, MD, her two step daughters Karin Rebecca Clemons Anderson of Burtonsville, MD and Kelly Michelle Clemons of Towson, MD , and her step-son David Cassius Clemons of Springfield, VA; Beverly’s Daughter-in-Law, David’s wife, Norma; Beverly’s mother, Mary Gailliot Kramp Franck of Hanover, PA and previously of Westminster and Bethesda, MD; two brothers, Robert C. Kramp of Charlotte, NC and Russell William Kramp of Fort Denaud, FL; her Sister-in-Law LuCindy Forrest Kramp, Russell’s wife; and an Uncle Edward Gailliot of Northern, VA. Beverly had 5 step-grandchildren – Rebecca Anderson who is currently attending the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Katherine Mary Ruth Anderson who lives with her father in Florida and is in High School; Kyle Thomas Anderson who lives with his mother in Burtonsville, MD and attends Middle School there; David’s son Samuel David Clemons, who is Home Schooled; and, David’s Step-Son Robert Fitzgerald Pereddo who is in college in Northern Virginia. Beverly had 3 nieces, Kelly Kramp Collins of Germantown, MD; Kimberly Kramp Kelley of Charlotte, NC; and Tamalee Kramp of Columbia, MD and she had one nephew, Justin Troy Kramp of Tega Cay, SC. There were seven (7) Grand Nieces and Nephews and a number of cousins scattered among the states
Beverly grew up in the Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville areas of Montgomery County In the suburbs of Washington DC. She attended Walter Johnson H.S and the then new Woodward H.S. when it opened and graduated from there. The building which was Woodward is now the Tilden Middle School on Old Georgetown Road. Bev continued her education at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland and received an Associate of Arts degree. She was on the Poms squad in both High School and at Montgomery College and participated in various music based activities during that time.
In her brother’s words, Beverly was a “Hub in the Family” around which many activities took place including holidays, birthdays etc. On other occasions she was a counselor, listening and questioning other family, young and old, through their various trials and tribulations.
She worked hard in the flower beds and at mowing the fields and lawn atop or behind tractors and push mowers etc. which she seemed to like doing.
In the world of work outside the home, Beverly was an Executive Assistant to the Director of the NOAA Manned Undersea Science and Technology program. Occasionally, she participated in dives to undersea habitats but her main responsibility was administrative, in which capacity she worked with major scientist from not only the U.S., but from around the world as well.
After a few years of marriage and stepmoming three kids, she joined her husband’s company, Landon Systems Corporation, as a VP and Secretary/Treasurer/Controller. Like most small business officers she wore a lot of hats and performed a lot of functions beyond what her title suggests and she did them cheerfully most of the time. Ultimately, she became president and ran the company and worked it too. In addition to the work, she participated in and led various church activities and special events as well.
Beverly liked and enjoyed music including MOTOWN, Elvis, Engelbert Humperdink, Sinatra and Dino; Rod Stewart and Disco, Samba,Cha-Cha, and Polkas as well as Fox Trots and Waltzes, Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Elington; George Strait, Garth Brooks, Merle Haggard and Willie; Lou Rauls, Etta James and Streisand. She really liked the Big Orchestra Waltzes of the Viennese waltzes for both listening and dancing and liked a little New Orleans Jazz now and then too.
She also liked movies – mysteries, love stories and comedies. “The Goonies” was the one innocent, funny movie that had her in tears of laughter on more than a couple of occasions.
When it came to pets and animals in general, some called her Ms. Assisi. Those that knew her would not hurt or mistreat any animal, tame or wild, including leaving pets in a closed up vehicle when she was around unless they were just spoiling for a real rowel. And if any one of her charge of children were bullied by another, the bully usually did not make that mistake again. Beverly was indeed a defender of the meek and powerless.
Beverly was indeed a woman of high spirit, responsible to her charge and gracious in persevering to completion of the tasks at hand. She was a noble woman for sure. And yet, in the end the beast that we call Metastatic Breast Cancer got her. She went through 6 or 7 class types of Chemo Therapy which exhausted those appropriate to her disease as determined by her doctor at St. Joseph Hospital in Towson who early on indicated that there were many alternative Chemos to address and control the disease when Beverly asked about the number of Chemo drugs available to treat her cancer. Clearly, this was a misleading answer. Perhaps better than the truth however when considering the possible effect on the patient’s attitude.
Out of this all comes the realization that the effective treating of metastatic Breast Cancer has not advanced very far. So, it becomes obvious that the thing to do is to avoid getting Metastatic Breast Cancer to begin with. How? Well one way is to detect any lumps or bumps as early as possible. Mammograms only do a piece of the job. Breast tissue extends all the way around to the back. Monthly aggressive self-exams of the breast tissues for lumps and bumps can be a pretty effective way of finding changes in the breast tissue, i.e. lumpy or bumpy tissue. Maybe get an appointment with a Breast Center in a hospital for some education on how to do an effective self examination.
