Lucy Bauer Kraemer was born in 1904 on a small farm in Franklin Township, a few miles south of Plain, Wisconsin. She lived to be 96 years old, dying of old age with dementia in 2000 at Greenway Manor in Spring Green. She came from one of the poorest families in the area, made poor by the early death of a father whose ambitions had created large debt that a widow with nine young children could not sustain. Despite the hardship and struggle, she had a rich life, also enriching all those who came in contact with her by her smile, laughter and tears.