Lee Ramer, champion of the Hammer Museum and other L.A. arts groups, dies at 90

Lee Ramer, a longtime Los Angeles arts leader and early champion of L.A. as a cultural capital, died at home Sunday, her family said. She was 90.

Ramer served on the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission from 1994 to 2013, eventually becoming the group’s president. Her service in city government began in 1978 with her work as cultural affairs assistant and deputy to former City Councilman Joel Wachs for 17 years.

“Lee Ramer and Patty Wilson were my cultural affairs ambassadors, and they articulated the importance of the arts,” said Wachs, now president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City.

“There was no shortage of people going out and saying the police were important. Or the firefighters. But there was a dearth of people who would say the arts were important. We took it on as a priority, and Lee Ramer was an ambassador to the arts community that we valued the arts and would render support.”

Born Ina Lee Brown on April 27, 1934, in Stamford, Conn., she majored in political science at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1956. Her family said that a summer internship with Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson developed her interest in government and politics.

In 1957, she married businessman Lawrence J. Ramer, and they moved to Los Angeles. Philanthropy and cultural affairs were important to both Ramers and would remain a key part of Lee Ramer’s life following her husband’s death in 2012.

“Places like the Skirball, Hammer, MOCA, the Getty Center and Disney Hall did not exist when my mom began her life here in Los Angeles,” said her daughter Stephanie Ramer, a painter. “She so enjoyed being an active part of the evolution of L.A.’s cultural landscape.”

Cynthia Burlingham, deputy director for curatorial affairs at the Hammer, said Lee Ramer was involved for more than 25 years with the UCLA museum, where she was a major donor and board member. “She brought an understanding of the city and cultural life of Los Angeles, and she was such a voice of reason in any meeting she was attending,” Burlingham said.

Ramer was “the epitome of integrity and grace,” said Rabbi Ken Chasen of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles.

“Her commitment to the advancement of art and culture won her admiration all over the world, but at our synagogue, she was admired most of all for her characteristic kindness and gentle wisdom.”

In addition to her time on the L.A. Cultural Affairs Commission, in 1999 Ramer was appointed the city’s chief of protocol. The year prior, she and her husband founded the AJC Berlin Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations. The facility was dedicated to improving understanding between Jews and non-Jews in Germany as well as in other European countries and in the United States.

“She was a very special woman,” said her brother-in-law Bruce Ramer. “She had a positivity about her that was contagious. She was very smart, thoughtful, curious and resourceful and always willing to pitch in and help. She will be missed but always remembered.”

Ramer is survived by her children, Stephanie Ramer in Los Angeles; Susan Ramer and her husband, Mark Coleman, in New York; and Douglas Ramer and his wife, Michelle, in Baltimore; and three grandchildren.