When Keith J. Kremer talked about his three-decade career as a professional carpenter for McCormick Place in Chicago, his fascinating stories spanned more than a lifetime of learning, teaching and building trades.
Kremer, 76, of Lansing, Illinois, died last week on June 4, 2026, with his family at his side at Community Hospital in Munster after a heart ailment.
A lifelong Lansing resident, Keith grew up in the classrooms of the former St. Ann Catholic School in Lansing and then attended high school at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, Indiana, where he participated in wrestling and football. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
He later coached football at St. Ann as well as TF North High School and Thornton Community College, now known as South Suburban College, and where he notably coached two players who later played in the ranks of the NFL: Lansing natives Tom Baldwin for the New York Jets and Kendall Kremer (Keith’s own younger brother) for the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He always maintained an interest in football right up to his passing, for the sheer love of the game,” said his construction friend Keith Jacobs of Dyer.
“His coworkers at McCormick Place referred to him as ‘Coach’ because of his ongoing investment in people’s lives.”
Keith Kremer retired in 2010 after more than 28 years of professional carpenter duties with the design and construction firm Nth Degree of McCormick Place.
When I interviewed him in the past, one of his most challenging assignments was assisting with the design and construction of display cases and exhibit showcase panels for the 150th Anniversary Smithsonian Institute coast-to-coast national touring exhibit of spotlight treasures in 1995.
Delicate yet durable custom structures were contracted to be created by Keith and his team to allow exceptional optics, yet guaranteed safe infrastructure for enclosures to house President George Washington’s sword, Dorothy’s ruby slippers used in the 1939 film classic “The Wizard of Oz,” Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet and the long fabled cursed “Hope Diamond” (45.52 carats and valued at $350 million), among the 150 items showcased for the tour.
Keith said the “contracted job” also came with a strict deadline for all of the display cases and exhibit panels to be crafted and ready for installation, along with ensuring easy dismantling and transport features, in time for the 12-city, two-year exhibition tour to launch in Los Angeles in February 1996, followed by Kansas City, Missouri, with the planned finale in New York. (More than 100 cities vied for a stop on the tour, which was funded by 10 corporate sponsors, such as Discover Card, paying $10 million each to underwrite the tour.)
He said the Smithsonian insisted the exhibit be free and that there not be any endorsements associated with the tour and refused any proposed funding from tobacco and alcohol companies.
Keith is survived by wife, Patricia Kremer (née Ferrier), and the couple were married July 7, 1990, as well as one daughter, Molly Jane (Jarrod); siblings Kerry (Denise), Rebecca Hluska (née Kremer), Kendall (Lisa), Curtis, and Corey (Elaine); many cousins, nieces, and nephews; and his longtime best friend, Patrick Baker of Lansing. Keith was preceded in death by his parents, Glen and Lida Kremer, and his sister-in-law, Jean (nee Downey) Kremer.
Keith and wife Pat met while Pat was the director of public relations at the Chicago History Museum, a position she held until 1995, when she left to become the director of public relations and advertising for the Chicago Field Museum later that same year, until her departure in 2007 to open her own private public relations firm, Big Splash PR, based in Lansing.
Visitation for Keith Kremer and with the Kremer family is 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at Schroeder-Lauer Funeral Home, 3227 Ridge Road in Lansing. Instead of flowers, the family requests donations to Lansing Community Food Pantry (708-895-3807). There will be a second visitation opportunity later this week from 9-10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, at All Souls Catholic Parish at St. Ann Church, 3010 Ridge Road in Lansing, to accommodate out-of-town family and friends, followed by the 10 a.m. Mass of Christian burial.
Questions and further information are available from Schroeder-Lauer Funeral Home at 708-474-0024.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected].