Richard Kramer, a print shop owner and quietly influential political fixture on St. Paul’s East Side, died Tuesday night after driving off the road and hitting a small boulevard tree just before 6 p.m. at Third Street and Clarence Street, east of Johnson Parkway. Friends said he likely suffered a stroke while driving. He was 55.

“It wasn’t excessive speed or anything,” said St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster.

St. Paul Police broke a window to gain access to his vehicle and attempted CPR at the scene. He was declared dead a short time later after being transported by paramedics to United Hospital.

“Rich Kramer could be blindfolded while driving on Johnson Parkway,” said longtime friend Chuck Repke, director of the Northeast Neighborhoods Development Corporation, one of the many civic efforts Kramer was involved in. “He had emailed my assistant that he didn’t make it to the board meeting yesterday afternoon because he wasn’t feeling well, and unless it was urgent he was going to pass.”

Kramer spent 21 years on St. Paul’s Planning Commission, having been appointed as one of the first acts of then-Mayor Norm Coleman in 1994. More recently he was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to the Metropolitan Council, the region’s seven county planning agency. He served eight years.

In addition to his volunteerism and political appointments, his business RJK Kramer and Associates on Arcade Street printed political signs, buttons, t-shirts, magnets and brochures for a wide variety of candidates and labor unions involved in all levels of state and local government. It often made Kramer the first to learn of many of the behind-the-scenes goings-on in St. Paul politics and a go-to source for local news media.

Former police sergeant and city council member Dan Bostrom said Kramer was a trusted campaign volunteer beginning when Bostrom served on the St. Paul School Board in the 1980s.

“He was a tireless activist in DFL politics, and he worked hard on our campaigns and conventions,” Bostrom said. “He had his ear close to the ground, and made me aware of issues if I happened to overlook something.”

Kramer’s workload, however, sometimes got in the way of his deadlines.

“If he told you something would get done, it would get done, but you had to be a little flexible with Richard,” Bostrom said. “If he said it would get done Tuesday, and Tuesday rolled around, he might say, ‘I didn’t tell you Tuesday of what week.'”

Kramer kept odd-hours at his print shop, toiling away into the early morning hours, but still made 8:30 a.m. Planning Commission meetings, to the amazement of friends.

“He usually worked from 10 p.m. to 4 in the morning,” said Roy Magnuson, a former St. Paul school teacher and labor organizer. “He tended to not want to work when he would miss phone calls and political stuff. It was his shop and he was basically sole proprietor.”

He was constantly thinking about ways, both large and small, to improve and advocate for the East Side.

Political consultant Rachel Gillespie recalled learning that her family would have to relocate in a hurry after their apartment building underwent a change in management. She was just starting out professionally with two children under the age of two, and feeling “young, poor and ashamed,” but Kramer — who had known her husband since his teen years — leaped into action.

“Richard found us a house to live in for cheaper than our apartment rent, and he welcomed us ‘home’ to the East Side. He always had a plan for me,” said Gillespie, who went on to have a career in law and politics that drew heavily on Kramer’s political connections. “Upon moving to the East Side, I was immediately a campaign manager then a legislative assistant, thanks to him. When I felt rejected or isolated, he made me feel empowered and included.”

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Sept. 30 is last day for public comment on Pigs Eye Lake makeover Kramer organized a lunch party for East Side DFLers every Monday that fell on a holiday, such as Martin Luther King’s Birthday and Veteran’s Day, “because those were slow days for East Side businesses,” Repke said. “It would be a chance for us to get together to see friends, and if at 1 o’clock, if 30 or 35 people showed up, it’s a nice boost to business on a slow day.”

On Wednesday, St. Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen led the city council in a moment of silence in Kramer’s memory.

Information about memorial services will be posted when available.