Joseph and Camilla Cram Scholarship

If you live in the Lutheran promised land of Minnesota, the lure of California has to be pretty strong to convince you to move. And so it was for Camilla Cram in 1942. In the midst of World War II, she had the opportunity to work in a California defense plant, and she grabbed it. It was a huge contrast to her previous life but she loved it.

Camilla was born into the family of the Rev. A. J. and Mina Nervig. She was the only daughter among eight children. At that time, attending normal school was sufficient training to become a teacher in a country school, and that is what Camilla did for four years. Her family insisted that she complete her education, and so she earned her baccalaureate degree at St. Olaf College in 1930 before teaching high school for 12 years. That was when she came to Los Angeles to do her part in the war effort by working in a defense plant. Following the war she once again returned to the elementary classroom, since teaching was in her blood. In 1953 she married Joseph Cram, and they enjoyed 23 years together.

The Crams moved to Thousand Oaks in 1957 and immediately became involved in the community, especially in Ascension Lutheran Church and California Lutheran College. One of her gifts to CLU’s music department was an Amati violin which had belonged to her brother Adolph. After Joseph’s death in 1976, Camilla could be found volunteering for the Conejo Valley Historical Society, the Stagecoach Inn Museum, and in Conejo Valley Days activities. She was an avid doll collector and a member of the local doll club.

But her heart was still committed to education. In 1976, to honor her husband’s memory, Camilla created the Joseph T. Cram Memorial Scholarship at CLC to be awarded to members of her church. This remained the scholarship’s name until 1994, when Camilla’s brother Roland Nervig requested that her name be joined with Joseph’s as a permanently endowed scholarship. The Joseph and Camilla Cram Scholarship has now helped and will continue to help many eager CLU students who are members of Ascension Lutheran Church.

Before her death, Camilla loved to meet personally with those who had benefited from her scholarship and from her lifelong commitment to education. They, in turn, loved hearing her tell how a Minnesota Lutheran pastor’s daughter transformed herself into a genuine Southern California resident with a passion for Lutheran higher education.