Biography with
Images, Marian Northrop Kraft (1912-2006)
for Memorial Service Programs [created
August 29, 2006]
There is also a brief
obituary notice, for general circulation.
Also linked below are a narrative of the circumstances
surrounding her death,
a file for additional
testimonials concerning her life and influence,
and the biography
and obituary for Howard Russell Kraft (1911-2000).
Marian Augusta Northrop was born
on 19 March 1912
in Waterbury Hospital,
Waterbury, CT.
Her parents
were Clifford
Wesley
Northrop and the former Margaret Miller. She was the oldest
of four daughters,
and is survived
by sisters
Betty
Simons Lirot of Daytona Beach, FL,
and Jean
Fleming of Concord, NH.
Much
of her early
life was spent in a
house
on Beecher Avenue
in
the Mill Plain section of Waterbury.
She attended
the nearby Chase
School.
Three major activities
in her early
life were Girl Scouting
(with her mother and sisters), amateur musical
theater (her father was very
active with the Mendelssohn singers, and both father and mother were
part
of a
"strummer's
club" for musical entertainment), and church
youth groups, where she met her future
husband, Howard Russell Kraft. She attended Crosby
High School in Waterbury
and was a member of the swimming team. Both she and Howard, who was
almost a
year older, graduated from Crosby in the class of 1929 and regularly
attended
class reunions in later life.
In the summer of 1929 Marian worked as a life
guard for the
Park Department of Waterbury, and saved enough money for business
college that
fall and for nursing
school (St. Luke's in New York City)
in February of 1930. She dropped out that spring for health reasons,
and
returned home to take a job as bookkeeper in the new S. S. Kresge store
in
downtown Waterbury.
Marian and Howard were married
in November, 1931
in a simple
service at Mill
Plain Union Church. They both went back to work the following
day. They first lived in a four-room fourth floor walk-up apartment
near her
parent's house as the "Great Depression" took hold. Howard's job at
Scovill Manufacturing was cut to three days per week, and they soon
moved to a
rent-free tumble-down house off Mad River Road
in Wolcott,
in exchange for "fixing it up." The
house actually had
historical interest as the place where clockmaker Seth Thomas was born
(1785),
near the Alcott house where Amos Bronson Alcott was born (1799). These
connections probably were lost on the young couple. The house had no
plumbing
and they drew water by pail from a well and heated it on a wood burning
stove. It was the spring of 1932, and
Marian was pregnant with Charles.
The old house was part of the Peterson farm
owned by
Howard's aunt and uncle, and in the spring of 1933, Howard purchased a
modest
lot from them on Spindle Hill Road
and planned and built a
garage on it. They moved in that fall -- Marian was
expecting Bob -- and lived there for four years. Amenities included
electricity, telephone, an outside well with a hand pump, and an
outhouse
("two-holer"). Howard lost his regular job for a time, and also broke
his leg. Marian made and sold sweaters and fancywork to help out, and taught
swimming. In 1936 they joined the Wolcott
Congregational Church and
Marian became a Sunday school teacher. She even took a religious
studies class
at Yale at one point. Her littlest sister died in 1934, followed by her
father
in 1936. Her mother consented to give some of his insurance money to
the young
couple to help them get started building a house next to the garage,
provided
they would include a small apartment for her. The house was ready for
occupancy
in the fall
of 1938.
At the end
of the Depression and start of World War II,
Marian
was pregnant with a third son, David, born in March, 1942. During the
war, Marian served as a volunteer airplane spotter in the tower above
the Wolcott Town
Hall and taught swimming
for
the Red Cross and other organizations. After the war, in August, 1947,
a
daughter joined the family, Sharon Ann Kraft.
Especially after her personal religious experience in 1938,
the Christian church came to play an even greater role in Marian's
life.
Sometime later she joined the Waterville Union Church (later renamed
Waterville/Waterbury Bible Church) and regularly taught Sunday school,
led
youth groups (especially Pioneer Girls, an evangelical Christian
parallel to
Girl Scouts), and worked in the New England Keswick religious summer
camps
(Monterey, MA). She was known familiarly as "Cap" to her young
associates. Marian's religious commitment, and the interest it spawned
in
people's spiritual and human needs, is also reflected in her
children's choice
of professions: Charles became a pastor, missionary and anthropology
professor,
Bob a professor of religious studies, David a physician (psychiatrist),
and
Sharon a specialist in services for the hearing impaired and the
handicapped.
Marian
and Howard liked to travel, and made many motor trips
throughout the country, visiting
children
and relatives or camping as they
went. For several decades, they vacationed in Daytona
Beach FL in the fall.
Especially after son Charles settled in Pasadena,
they frequently made a spring trip to the west coast, visiting
relatives along
the way. Howard retired from Scovill in 1971, which provided even more
opportunity for traveling. An avid picture taker, Marian
documented their trips
profusely. She also kept detailed journals of her, and their,
activities. They
were proud of having visited all the contiguous states in the USA,
and were sent off to Hawaii
(1982) and Alaska (1988)
as gifts
from their children. Marian was also interested in traveling abroad,
and
various opportunities were offered them, but Howard was hesitant.
Finally in
the summer of 1990 they went on a motor tour of England
and Scotland
with son Bob.
Howard
died
in 2000, and soon
afterward Marian
sold the
house
and property on Spindle Hill Road
in Wolcott, where they had lived for over 65 years. Marian first moved
into
nearby Nottingham
housing for the elderly in the Waterville
section of Waterbury,
close to her
home church, and in 2001 relocated
to the Havenwood-Heritage Heights
Continuing
Care Retirement
Community in Concord, NH,
near where daughter Sharon and family live.
Several well-worn Bibles were among her possessions when she
downsized.
At first she had her own apartment in a duplex cottage on the grounds,
then
moved to a smaller apartment in the lodge, and finally into the nursing
care
facility, where she died
peacefully on 20 August
2006, aged 94.
Marian is survived
by her three sons, Charles
H. Kraft of
South Pasadena, CA, Robert A. Kraft of Ambler, PA, and David P. Kraft
of
Amherst, MA; a daughter, Sharon
A. Kraft-Lund of Center Barnstead, NH; 14
grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Betty Simons Lirot
of
Daytona Beach FL, and Jean Fleming, formerly of Wolcott and S. Pomfret,
VT, and
now also living in Heritage Heights,
Concord.
Arrangements: in Concord, on Saturday September 2, at 6 pm,
Memorial Service at Havenwood; in Wolcott/Waterville, on Saturday,
September 9, burial in the
family
plot in Edgewood
Cemetery, Wolcott CT, at 11 am (attended by her immediate
family); followed at 1:30pm by a Memorial Service at the Bible Church
of Waterbury
(formerly Waterville Bible Church), at 240 Dwight St., Waterbury,
CT.
Remembrances: In lieu
of flowers, contributions will be accepted for the Marian "Cap" Kraft
Summer Camp Scholarship Fund, at the Bible Church of Waterbury (240
Dwight St, Waterbury, CT
06704), or at the
Congregational Church of North Barnstead (504
North Barnstead Rd, Center Barnstead, NH 03225).
Testimonials:
We are collecting "memory clips" about Marian, especially from people
unable to attend either of the memorial services, or who wish to include or add to
what is said at those services.
The Memorial Service at the Waterbury Bible Church, 9 Sept 2006
Prelude
Opening Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3.1-8, 2 Corinthians 1.3-5
Prayer
Hymn 688 -- "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us"
Scripture: Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 13
Hymn 342 -- "Rock of Ages"
Pastoral Remarks (Rev. Richard Dill)
Scripture: Proverbs 31.10-31
Time of Remembrance (Family & Others)
Hymn 635 -- "In the Garden"
Time of Rembrance (Congregation)
Scripture: Psalm 23
Hymn 327 -- "The Old Rugged Cross"
Benediction
/end/