NY Times,19-Apr-2015
By Vincent M. Mallozzi
Lisa Cadette Detwiler and Jim Cramer were married Saturday evening at the Liberty Warehouse, an event space in Brooklyn. Aran Yardeni, an archeologist and friend of the couple who became a Universal Life Minister for the event, officiated.
Lisa Cadette Detwiler and Jim Cramer were married Saturday evening at the Liberty Warehouse, an event space in Brooklyn. Aran Yardeni, an archeologist and friend of the couple who became a Universal Life Minister for the event, officiated.
The bride, 49, is a real estate broker for Corcoran Group Real Estate in Brooklyn Heights. She graduated from Trinity College in Hartford. She is a daughter of Joan B. Cadette and Walter M. Cadette of Millbrook, N.Y. The bride’s father retired as an economist for J.P. Morgan in Manhattan. Her mother retired as an English teacher at Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica, Queens.
The groom, 60, is the host of “Mad Money With Jim Cramer,” a weekday show on CNBC that analyzes investment opportunities. He is also an anchor of “Squawk on the Street,” a weekday stock market show on CNBC. He graduated from Harvard, from which he also received a law degree.
He is the son of the late Louise A. Cramer and the late N. Ken Cramer, who lived in Philadelphia. The groom’s mother was an artist. His father owned International Packaging Products in Philadelphia, which sold wrapping paper, boxes and bags to retailers and restaurants.
The bride’s first marriage ended in divorce, as did the groom’s.
The couple, set up by a mutual acquaintance, met in January 2006 at a bar in Manhattan. At first, Ms. Detwiler balked at the idea of meeting Mr. Cramer, who is known for his on-air histrionics.
“I remember saying that there was no way I was going to go out with that bald, screaming man,” she said, laughing. “But then the person who set us up reminded me that I had been spending too much time at home watching television with my dog.”
So she went along, but not before establishing a few ground rules. “We were both separated with children and in the process of getting a divorce and trying to start over in our lives,” said Ms. Detwiler, who had three children from her first marriage. “So the deal was that we would meet for a drink, and if he liked me, he would ask me out for a burger later that evening. And if I liked him, I would have to accept that offer.”
Much to Ms. Detwiler’s delight, she and Mr. Cramer hit it off immediately. “I didn’t really care about him as a TV person, but he was so well versed on so many different topics,” she said. “He had wonderful life experiences to share. And most of all, he placed his children above everything else in life. And after all I had been through, that really hit home with me.”
During their initial conversation, Ms. Detwiler told Mr. Cramer that two years earlier, her 2-year-old daughter, Grace, had died as a result of cardiomyopathy, a chronic disease of the heart muscle.
Mr. Cramer, who has two children of his own, was overwhelmed. “I’m looking at this woman who just shared with me this horrible tragedy that happened in her life, and I’m thinking to myself, how does she even have the strength to get up in the morning?” he said. “I thought I was tough, but it takes a really tough person to come back from something like that.”
When their date ended, Ms. Detwiler got into a cab and thought that was probably the last she would see of him. “I figured that Jim, because of who he is and what he does, is meeting incredible women all the time,” she said. But at 4 that morning, she received an email from Mr. Cramer that read, “Sometimes in life people who are special need to be told they are special.”
Two weeks later, they went on another date. “I wanted to get serious with her right away because I was afraid someone else would meet her,” he said. “I kept thinking that anyone who can handle what she has been through can easily handle the train wreck that is Jim Cramer.”
