Obituaries

Kenneth W. Kraft, age 80, of Kanawha passed away Thursday, September 20, 2007 at the Wright Medical Center in Clarion.

Funeral services for Kenneth Kraft will be held on Monday, September 24, 2007 at 10:30 AM at the 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 on Sunday, September 23, 2007 from 2:00 until 4:00 PM 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 January 7, 1927.  He attended country school through the eighth grade and then went to Renwick High School.  In March of 1945, Kenneth was drafted into the United States Army and served his country in Germany until his honorable discharge on November 6, 1946.

Upon his discharge, Kenneth worked on a farm as a farmhand.  On September 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 finally returned to the Postal Service as a rural carrier until his retirement.

Kenneth really enjoyed fishing on his own and 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 for many years.  Those years of running the chain allowed him a front row seat to watch all three of his sons play at 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 the 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, Nebraska and LuAnn (Frank) Hefty of Bixby, Oklahoma; two brothers: Garry (Sandy) Kraft of Bode and Donald (Carolyn) Kraft of Tulsa, Oklahoma; along with many family members and a multitude of friends.