Richard Ernest Kraft

Richard Ernest (Rick) Kraft was born in Pipestone, Minnesota on January 5, 1947 to Ernest William Kraft and Elvira Marie (Arend) Kraft.

Rick was raised in Trosky, Minnesota where he attended a one-room school through the 4 ^th grade then consolidated into the Pipestone school system.  He graduated from Pipestone High School in 1965 and went on to study Electrical Engineering at South Dakota State University, obtaining BS and MS degrees.

Rick married his high school sweetheart, Sharon Van Ruler, on August 23, 1969.  They lived in Brookings, South Dakota while Rick finished school.

In September of 1971 Rick accepted a position with Texas Instruments in Dallas as part of their Defense Systems and Electronics Group.  He spent his entire 36 year career in the defense industry with Texas Instruments and later Raytheon. He worked on many interesting state-of-the-art programs, which frequently took him Korea, Japan, and Washington, DC among other places.  He retired from Raytheon as a Director at the end of 2007.

Rick and Sharon had three children. Christopher was born in Brookings, South Dakota in 1971. Daughter Amy (Kelton) and son Thomas were born in Dallas in 1972 and 1974 respectively.  The family spent over 40 years in Plano.  In 2017, Rick and Sharon moved to McKinney.

The Kraft’s are founding members of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, which was formed in 1976.  Rick was active in the parish ministries, including teaching CCD, Parish Council, Eucharistic Minister and worked with youth groups. Rick spent over 30 years playing guitar with the choir which supports the Saturday evening liturgy.

Rick enjoyed golfing with numerous buddies on the local courses, spending time at their lake house on Cedar Creek Lake (’05 –’13), traveling with Sharon, social events with family and friends, but most of all spending time with his family and the love of his life.

Rick is survived by his soulmate of over 50 years, Sharon, their 3 children, Christopher of Dallas, Amy Kelton of Dallas, and Thomas of Niantic, Connecticut, his sister Mary Wiesjahn of Hugo, Minnesota and grandson Will Kelton.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

A Mass of Christian Burial we be celebrated on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 10:30 am, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church,  2700 W Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano Texas 75023, with Fr. Bruce Bradley, celebrant. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall.

The family respectfully requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Capital Campaign at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 2700 W. Spring Creek Pkwy., Plano, Texas 75023, https://setonparish.org/cc or to The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, https://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/ways-to-give/honor-a-loved-one