Kenneth Walter KRAFT

KRAFT, SCHULTZ, JACKSON, ABBAS, HARLE, HARRIS, HEFTY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/5/2009 at 11:40:59

September 23, 2007
Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa

KANAWHA — Kenneth W. Kraft, age 80, of Kanawha, passed away Thursday (Sept. 20, 2007) at the Wright Medical Center in Clarion. Funeral services for Kenneth Kraft will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 24, at Kanawha Lutheran Church with Pastor Lee Nelson and Janelle Siffring, AiM, officiating. Burial will take place at Amsterdam Cemetery near Kanawha. Visitation for Kenneth Kraft will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Ewing Dugger Funeral Home in Kanawha and continue one hour prior to services at the church on Monday.

Kenneth Walter Kraft, the son of Walter A. and Thelma Irene Schultz Kraft, was born on the family farm near Renwick on Jan. 7, 1927. He attended country school through the eighth grade and then went to Renwick High School. In March 1945, Kenneth was drafted into the U.S. Army and served his country in Germany until his honorable discharge on Nov. 6, 1946. Upon his discharge, Kenneth worked on a farm as a farmhand. On Sept. 27, 1947, he was united in marriage to Marian Jackson at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. This union was blessed with six children. In their first year of marriage the couple moved to Ames where Kenneth worked at the Water Department for the city of Ames. They returned to Kanawha and Kenneth worked for Knoll’s Produce for 9 years. He then worked at the Farmer’s Co-op Elevator in Kanawha. Kenneth began working for the United States Postal Service as a clerk. In 1970, he opened the Kraft Hardware Store that he sold to his son, Doug, in 1975. Kenneth started the Kanawha Service Center helping people with refrigeration, plumbing and heating and electrical work. Kenneth eventually returned to the postal service as a rural carrier until his retirement.

Kenneth really enjoyed fishing on his own in Minnesota with friends and on family trips. He cherished time with his family, especially the children. He ran the chain at all Kanawha High School football games. Those years of running the chain allowed him a front row seat to watch all three of his sons play home games. Kenneth was an avid gardener, and enjoyed supplying the town of Kanawha with potatoes and tomatoes. He loved helping his cousin, Robert, in the field for spring planting and the fall harvest. Kenneth was able to fix anything and would give of himself and his time whenever anyone needed a helping hand. Kenneth was a member of Kanawha Lutheran Church, the Kanawha American Legion and the Kanawha and Britt VFW.

Kenneth is survived by his wife of 60 years, Marian; six children: K. Douglas (Barb) Kraft of Pella, Paula (Darl) Abbas of Kanawha, Denny “Buck” (Jane) Kraft of Pella, Dana (Tammy) Kraft of Kanawha, Melanie Kraft of Amarillo, Texas, and Mona (Tony) Harle of Klemme; 12 grandchildren; 9 great-grandchildren; two sisters: Sandra Harris of Lincoln, Neb., and LuAnn (Frank) Hefty of Bixby, Okla.; two brothers: Garry (Sandy) Kraft of Bode and Donald (Carolyn) Kraft of Tulsa, Okla; along with many family members and a multitude of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant sister, Lavaughn; and two brothers: Earl and Verven Kraft. Ewing Dugger Funeral Home, Kanawha.