ST. LOUIS — Known for its bountiful beauty, the mission for the Missouri Botanical Garden is to preserve and enrich life.
That's why it became the venue and a special space to celebrate a memorable man: Bob Kramer.
The man behind Bob Kramer's Marionettes was honored Wednesday morning for the legacy he leaves behind in St. Louis.
Alongside his partner Dug Feltch, the duo dedicated more than five decades making marionettes and putting them on display.
Kramer died in a house fire in January.
Kramer and Feltch lived on the second floor. Downstairs, there was a theater, gift shop and a wood shop to make the string puppets.
Eight hundred marionettes were destroyed, along with hundreds of contacts needed for his memorial. But Organizers persevered and made the event happen.
For two months, organizers planned and strategically placed the memorial at the new Bayer Event Center.
Kramer's sister, Pat Amerman, even helped organize it all the way from California.
Feltch talked about the importance of the site.
"Bob so loved the botanical garden and plants, so being here is absolutely perfect. The last show we did was at the botanical garden, commemorating this new building," Feltch said. "We were here for 30 years, performing for Henry Shaw's birthday and events. We have a long-running history."
It's a history that's brought them back.
"He was a man of few words, but put a puppet in his hand and you couldn't stop him," Feltch said with a laugh.
This unstoppable artist touched thousands, with hundreds paying their respects Wednesday morning.
Elani Myers, the host of the event and life-long friend, said, "My grandparents were close to Dug and Bob, I've basically known them my whole life. I call them my puppet uncles."
All walks of life trickled in, with hundreds of photos being checked out. Myers said people from all over sent the photos.
There was a section for people to write out memories on cards of Kramer or Kramer's Marionettes.
During the memorial, a proclamation was given from the city.
"Bob was such an amazing human, so creative and impacted so many lives," Myers noted.
Organizer Michelle O'Donnell couldn't agree more.
"The biggest thing to take away is the impact he gave to the St. Louis community and beyond," O'Donnell said.
Feltch's purpose for the memorial is for people to preserve these special moments and enrich lives once again.
"We'd say, we like to leave our audiences smiling and happy and hopefully we'll do the same thing today," Feltch said.
Future plans involve building a puppetry center to preserve this type of art.
Feltch said creating this center for children is their lifelong dream.
Kramer's sister said if anyone is interested in contacting Bob Kramer's family, send an email to bobkramermemorial@comcast.net.