Photo by Samantha Davis. The family of Jaron Kramer sit with a portrait of him after reflecting on his life following a fatal motorcycle accident in July. Shown is (left to right) Kramer’s stepfather Ryan Wade, brother Maddux Wade, mother Chelsea Wade, sister Kennedy Wade, grandmother Brenda Denelsbeck and grandfather Gary Denelsbeck.

MARSHALL — Sitting together in the living room surrounded by photos and memories of school drawings on the refrigerator, the family of Marshall 16-year-old Jaron Kramer described him as a protector with a generously kind heart and uplifting sense of humor. 

Kramer died unexpectedly on July 28 following a fatal motorcycle accident, and his mother Chelsea Wade, stepfather Ryan Wade, and grandparents Gary and Brenda Denelsbeck sat down with The Marshall Independent to reflect on his life.  

 “It’s just unreal. I just have to look at his picture and his urn and go, ‘No, he really is gone,'” Chelsea said. “He was just my sidekick … We were very open with each other about everything.”  

Kramer died about three weeks ago after colliding into the back of an SUV traveling southbound on Highway 23 in Marshall, and was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Through the grief, Kramer’s family have been prompted with moments of comfort in realizing the impact he had on those around him. 

Kramer grew up primarily with his mother until she and Ryan met in 2017, and he also was very close with his grandparents, who currently reside in Porter. 

“We didn’t know how many people he actually touched, until these people started reaching out to (Chelsea),” Ryan said. “It’s very moving that there’s been so much support … To know that all these people cared so much about him.”  

Particularly, Kramer had a profound love for video games. After the accident, his phone was returned to Chelsea, and she came to find a large discord community that spent a lot of time getting to know her son while they played games with one another. 

“(I) was reaching out to people to let people know … I get this weird text message (from a friend of Kramer’s),” Chelsea said. “This gaming community … There’s like 88 of (them) in this group. He’s like, ‘We’ve known Jaron for years, and we just wanted to reach out to you, and let you know that we miss him and we loved him.’ … That was eye-opening to me, to just know that there were all these people.”  

Kramer also had a defined passion for motorcycling, and recently found a group of friends in town that would ride together. 

“He only met them two months ago … He was out cruising one day and met this kid, Jayden (Hansen), who’s 17 and rides motorcycle in town,” Chelsea said. “They waved each other down that day, (and Kramer) came home, and he was like, ‘I met this kid, and there’s a motorcycle group.'” 

The family said although meeting just recently, Kramer and Jayden, along with the rest of the group, grew very close over the past few months and became best friends. 

Kramer, who got his driving license when he turned 16 last October, obtained his motorcycle certification in May of this year, to which Chelsea and Brenda said he was immensely excited about. 

“It was the happiest I’ve seen him, (was) within the last six months. He found a group of guys to ride motorcycles with,” Brenda said. “Those guys opened up a whole new world.” 

Brenda noted that Kramer called her the night before the crash intrigued about a new motorcycle he was interested in, and the two talked about how to start saving money for it. 

“He was a very well-trained rider,” Ryan said. “He knew what he was doing on a motorcycle.” 

Kramer’s love for wheels sparked at an early age, and only continued to grow. 

“When he was 3 years old, he knew how to ride a bicycle … We were in the Black Hills (South Dakota), and it was my (50th) birthday, and we were camping,” Brenda said. “(He) brought his little balance bike, he went down that hill, just whoosh … Anything with wheels. Then, when he was eight or seven, Grandpa (Gary) went to Walmart at Christmas and bought him a little Coleman dirt bike.” 

Kramer and Gary shared an especially close bond through hunting and motorcycles. 

 Chelsea recently got the opportunity to connect with someone who was at the scene of Kramer’s crash, provoked by a community effort. She was waiting for a confirmation from Walmart that a print order of photos of Jaron was completed, when she instead got an unexpected phone call. 

“This Marshall number called me three times in a row, and I’m like, ‘I got to call him back.’ … He (a Walmart employee) said, ‘I don’t know how this happened, but I think the angels must have done something.’ He said, ‘Because there’s a woman here who’s (also) printing pictures for a funeral for her family member, and she was at the scene with your son, and she’s willing to stay here if you would like to come and meet her,'” Chelsea said. “I dropped everything.”

Chelsea went to the store to meet her, LuAnn Lessman, who Chelsea noted happens to an ER nurse, and the two talked about Kramer’s last moments. 

“It was actually her (Lessman’s) brother and her mother were right behind Jaron, and saw all of it happen. She was in a car behind them,” Chelsea said. “She had brand new sheets in the back of her vehicle that she had just bought. She had gotten there, she saw him, she checked him right away … Then, this other guy, Zach (Nuy), who’s on the fire department, lives like across the highway from where it happened, and he was in his yard and heard it all. He ran across the highway, and it was the two of them.” 

“She (Lessman) said, ‘I have sheets in my vehicle, go get them,'” Chelsea added regarding their conversation. “So, Zach went and got a sheet, and they covered his (Kramer’s) body, so nobody else could see it. Then, they just held their hands over him and they prayed over him … She just sat there with him and talked to him … It was so comforting to know.” 

Brenda also referred to the story of Lessman and Nuy’s actions as if, “There was an angel there, for sure.” 

Relating to the job of first responders, Kramer had dreams growing up of wanting to work in law enforcement. 

“There’s a memory of National Night Out (a few years ago). He met the SWAT team, and he was nuts about the SWAT team,” Chelsea said. “Even this last year, he really wanted to still do something with being a cop or (in) law enforcement.” 

One of Kramer’s most prominent traits, according to his family, was his natural desire to protect those around him. 

“He knew what was wrong and what was right, and he was going to defend,” Chelsea said. “He was right there.” 

Ryan added that if Jaron ever saw someone needing help, he was always one of the first to say something or offer a hand. 

“He would try to fight everybody’s battle,” Brenda said. “He treated the kids at school the same way … He rushed to their defense.” 

While Kramer was growing up, Chelsea would bring him along while she also continued to pursue her goals of a college degree at Southwest Minnesota State University. 

“He came to college classes with me … I was a non-traditional student. He went to history lectures with me,” Chelsea said. “One of the professors gave him, it was a Where’s Waldo (toy). She gave him that because he would play with it when we were in her office. He’d come to some of my education classes, and it was like he was just right there. He’s the reason I went into teaching in the first place.”

Chelsea finished her undergraduate degree at SMSU, and has been working toward a master’s degree through Mankato State online. 

“I’m getting my master’s right now in special education, and it all stemmed from him. It’s weird that he won’t be there for the end of that,” Chelsea said, tearing up. “He was definitely my motivation for all that.” 

Kramer lived with his younger half-siblings, 6-year-old Maddux Wade and 8-month-old Kennedy Wade, with Chelsea and Ryan. 

Despite having a 10-year age gap with Maddux, the two still shared a special relationship with one another. 

“(It was) the little things, where Jaron would get his phone and sit down here and play Roblox with Maddux, and Maddux loved that,” Chelsea said. “That was just the greatest. And, Jaron gave him his old Xbox (as well).” 

Kramer is also survived by his father, Bobby Kramer of Sioux Falls, S.D. 

Also known as smart and very tech-savvy, who once built his own computer, Jaron’s family also described him as having a humorous personality.  

 Taking turns looking over and sharing photos, Kramer’s family all expressed that the support they have received from the community has been overwhelmingly kind and eye-opening. 

“He always defended me. That was the one thing, that he never wanted me to be sad,” Chelsea said. “He was always willing.”