We published this photo from the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý archives in the fall 2025 issue of ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Magazine but couldn't identify the woman posing with the Fremont Cannon and members of the the 1977 football team.
Thanks to a couple readers, we now know she's Edith "Edie" Kraemer and once served as president of the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Boosters Club.
"She was called 'Mom' by many of the players who were far from home," wrote Cindy Cunningham, whose husband Hugh Cunningham, '79 BS Hospitality Administration, was a linebacker 1973-76.
And Kraemer was actual mom to Jennifer Margison, ’05 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture.
"You couldn’t imagine the shock I experienced when I flipped to the back page and saw a picture that was always in a frame at our home," Margison wrote.
Edie and then-husband, Ralph Kraemer, were prominent community leaders and ardent supporters of . Ralph, who died in 2016, owned a local engineering firm and was a founding member of the local Rotary Club, Las Vegas Builder's Exchange, and Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association. Edie, who died in 1997, was an office manager, a member of the Las Vegas Genealogical Society, and founding president of Las Vegas Chapter of Sweet Adelines.
Margison remembers the letterman jacket, trophy football, and commemorative clock that players presented to thank Edie over the years. "All the guys would come over for the holidays if they couldn’t get home," she said. "We always had a house full of Samoans on the holidays."
"One player got married in their backyard," Cunningham said. "She and Ralph went to every game, home and away."
The couple even headed to Japan for the Yokohama bowl game in 1978. It was the Rebels' first season as a Division I team and the first time they played Brigham Young University (the Cougars prevailed 28-24).
"I could tell you many stories of their kindness," Cunningham said. "The Kraemers were our West Coast family. Hugh and I were thrilled (and a little teary eyed) at seeing Edie's picture."
As for that 1977 team in the picture? They were coached by Tony "Silver Fox" Knap and led by quarterback Greg Van Ness; running back Raymond Strong; and receiver Henry Vereen. They also defeated UNR in the annual Battle for Nevada rivalry game, ensuring that the Fremont Cannon rivalry trophy stayed with the Rebels another year.
