Earlier this month in Washington, D.C., Mary Kramer was sworn in as the new U.S. ambassador to the Nations of the Eastern Caribbean. On Jan. 20, the ceremony was repeated at the Iowa Statehouse. She plans to fly to Florida Jan. 26 for some last-minute meetings and training. Then she will depart to the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.

“I’m going to a place I’ve never been to live in a house I’ve never seen and work with people I’ve never met,” said Kramer, former president of the Iowa Senate. “So much will remain unknown until my husband and I get there. One can learn a lot out of a textbook, but until you apply it, you never know if you’ve got it right. I’m nervous, but I’m excited by the newness of it. It’s a great adventure.”

In May, Kramer and her husband, Kay, were on vacation when they received a flurry of frantic telephone messages telling her to call the White House. Kramer wanted to wait, but her assistant insisted they be dealt with immediately. President Bush wanted to know if she would serve a three-year term as the U.S. ambassador to Barbados and a group of nearby islands, and he needed her answer in a just a few days.

“I had to sit down,” she said. “I discussed it with my family. My husband and I bought a book on the area to learn what we were getting into. When we asked our kids, they said, ‘Go for it.'”

Kramer and her husband have two adult children and four grandchildren. The hardest part for Kramer will be being away from friends and family, and missing her grandchildren’s band concerts and soccer matches.

“They’re going to visit us, and we’re going to visit them, but it’s not the same,” she said. “I might miss sweet corn and Maid-Rites, but the people will be the biggest miss. We’re inviting all of our friends to come down. Tourism is an important industry there, and I’m interested in expanding it. I hope lots of Iowans come to visit.”

After accepting the president’s informal offer, Kramer and her husband underwent a rigorous investigation. State Department investigators interviewed her friends and looked into every place she’d ever lived, every job she’d ever had and her medical history. In October, the White House officially announced its intention to nominate Kramer, and the Senate confirmed her nomination Dec. 9.

Kramer then underwent a two-week ambassadorial seminar, nicknamed “diplomatic charm school,” conducted by the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute.

The training focused less on table manners and more on her official duties, such as leading more than 140 people in serving Americans abroad, working to prevent acts of terrorism, promoting economic growth “to maintain a stable democracy,” and improving life in the region. Kramer’s post has a high level of HIV/AIDS infection, and she says raising awareness to fight the disease’s spread in the region is one of her top priorities.

Kramer’s new job will bring radical changes to her lifestyle, as she will have staff members to cook, clean and drive for her.

“I don’t know if it will feel like a loss of independence or not,” she said, though she likes the idea of not worrying about maps, directions or finding a parking space.

Kramer grew up in Burlington. She attended high school and college in Iowa City, receiving her undergraduate degrees in piano performance and teaching from the University of Iowa in 1957 and her master’s degree in school administration in 1971. Kramer taught off and on between 1957 and 1971, taking time off to have her children.

In 1976, Kramer’s family moved to Des Moines, where she took a job as a personnel director for Younkers Inc. Seven years later, she was recruited to serve as the vice president of human resources for Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. She stayed with Wellmark for 18 years.

For several years, Kramer worked at Wellmark and served in the Iowa Legislature. She retired in 1997 when she became president of the Iowa Senate.

Kramer still doesn’t know who first suggested her as an ambassador.

“I’m certainly honored,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder, ‘How did we get here?'”