Former Dean of the St. Thomas College of Education and longtime Leadership and Counseling member, Bruce Kramer, died of complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – on Monday afternoon.

Kramer, 59, is survived by his wife and two sons, all of whom were with him when he died in his home in Hopkins, Minnesota. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2010 but served as dean at St. Thomas until 2012 when he took a leave of absence.

President Julie Sullivan expressed her condolences to his family on behalf of St. Thomas. Kramer joined St. Thomas in 1996 and worked extensively in the School of Education.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. April 11 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minnesota. During his final years, Kramer spent time documenting his life with ALS in a radio series with MPR’s Cathy Wurzer. Kramer and Wurzer also shared his story of living with loss in the memoir titled “We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying.”

Kramer’s family decided to continue the scheduled book release on Wednesday at St. Thomas. MPR News’ Kerri Miller will host the event along with Wurzer. St. Thomas Chamber Singers and Twin Cities singer Jearlyn Steele will perform at the event.

Kramer had planned on attending the event himself, but if he was not able to make it, he still wanted it to go on, according to Vice President for University and Government Relations, Doug Hennes.

“Originally he was going to be part of that,” Hennes said. “The family decided, and he was involved in that decision that if he couldn’t go, he still wanted it to happen. So it will still be held Wednesday night.”

The event will be held in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium at 7 p.m. and all free tickets are booked. People can still view the event live on TV in Rooms 203, 206, 207, 210 and 212.

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.