Obituaries
Obituary for William "Bill" D. Kraft
Peoria - William D. (Bill) Kraft passed away at his home on Saturday October 16, 2021 after a year and one half battle with cancer.
He was born in Princeville, Illinois on November 26, 1944, the 8th and youngest child of two German immigrants, Joseph, originally from Bachenau and Hedwig Kappes Kraft originally from Obergriesheim. While growing up in the small town of his birth, Bill excelled in athletics, earning all-conference honors in football, basketball and baseball and winning the conference high jump championship two years in a row. He also earned all-state football and basketball awards his senior year.
After being accepted at the University of Notre Dame, he was invited to try to “walk-on” the Freshman basketball team and out of over 50 who tried out, was the first to be selected to the team. Subsequently, he was invited to the Varsity his sophomore year where he won a letter. For a variety of reasons Bill decided to leave Notre Dame and transfer to the University of Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in finance from the College of Business.
Following college graduation in 1967, Bill joined the U.S.M.C. Reserves and spent six years in the organization. After completing his six months’ boot camp, advanced infantry training, Bill returned to Peoria to begin his 39 year banking career with the First National Bank of Peoria in 1968. It was here that he met the great love of his life Carolyn Monser and they were married on December 6, 1969. She survives.
They were blessed with four children, David of Champaign, Joe (Rachel) of Peoria, Sue (Kris) Spaulding of Bloomington and Steven, who passed away unexpectedly on February 20, 2014, leaving a wife, Katie Serena, and two small boys, Lucas and Liam. In addition to the two boys, Bill and Carolyn have five additional grandchildren, Samantha Kraft; Mary, Austin and Kaitlyn Spaulding and William Kraft. They also have four step-grandchildren.
Soon after Bill’s 2006 retirement, Bill and Carolyn achieved their goal of having been in all 50 states.
Bill was a founding member of the L.T.’s a local cover band that played the area for 30 plus years, including playing with Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets, at the Hub Ballroom.
Bill was also fairly well known in Peoria golfing circles having chaired many outings, most notably Tee It Up for the Troops, to raise money for charity. They were members of Arrowhead County Club for more than 51 years.
Bill and Carolyn have been very active in their parish, St. Jude Catholic Church. They chaired the Annual Diocesan Appeal numerous times, the Rooted in Faith Campaign and the first Capital Campaign to build a new school. Bill served on the Parish Finance Council for 39 years and 10 years as one of the two lay Trustees. He was a 3rd degree member of the St. Clement Council of the Knights of Columbus.
Also surviving are six of his seven siblings: Frank (Joan) Kraft, Doris Snyder, Julian Shafer, Charles (Florence) Kraft, James (Mary Sue) Kraft and Thomas Kraft. He was preceded in death by his youngest child Steven, his parents and sister Ruth.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the St. Jude Catholic School Endowment Fund.
Visitation will be held from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 pm at St. Jude Hettinger Hall on Tuesday, October 19, 2021. A rosary will precede the visitation at 3:45 p.m. A funeral Mass with Fr. Patrick Henehan officiating will be held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. with visitation one hour before at St. Jude Church. Burial will be in St. Mary’s of the Woods Cemetery in Princeville.
Tributes and condolences may be submitted to www.wrightandsalmon.com.
Previous Events
Visitation
Tuesday
19
Oct
4:30 PM
- 6:30 PM
St. Jude Parish Hettinger Hall
10811 N. Knoxville
Peoria, IL 61615
Rosary at 3:45pm
Visitation
Wednesday
20
Oct
9:30 AM
- 10:30 AM
St. Jude Catholic Church
10811 N. Knoxville Ave.
Peoria, IL 61615
Funeral Mass
Wednesday
20
Oct
10:30 AM
St. Jude Catholic Church
10811 N. Knoxville Ave.
Peoria, IL 61615
Loading...