Carol A. Kraus, 84, Beloved Mother and Grandmother, Dedicated Volunteer
Carol A. Kraus, a longtime Fanwood resident and community volunteer, passed away suddenly on Friday, May 3, 2024, while in rehab at Ashbrook Rehabilitation Center in Scotch Plains following surgery to repair a broken hip. Her daughter, Kathy, was at her side. Carol was 84.
Carol is finally reunited with her late husband, Bob, whom she has missed dearly since his passing in 2009. She was touched by the many friends and family members who called, visited, and filled her room with flowers over the past six weeks.
Born in New Bedford, Mass., and raised primarily in Closter, N.J., Carol graduated as valedictorian from Northern Valley Regional High School-Demarest in 1957. She studied at Douglass College, where she met Bob during their first week on campus. They were married in June 1961, spent two years in Utah stationed at the Dugway Proving Grounds, and settled in Fanwood in 1967.
Carol worked in publishing at Prentice Hall and later managed numerous real estate investment properties. Although successful at both endeavors, Carol dedicated her life to supporting her husband, raising three children, and working tirelessly as a volunteer in the Fanwood and Scotch Plains communities.
She was a board member, former president and officer over her 35 years volunteering with the Resolve Community Counseling Center; a founder of the Fanwood Community Foundation; a former president, treasurer and county liaison for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood PTA Council; a former president and curriculum committee member for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School PTA; a member of the Park Middle School PTA; a former president for the Brunner Elementary School PTA; a charter member of the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Service League; a former president of the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Jayceeettes; and an active member of the Fanwood Senior Club. She also organized reunions for the Northern Valley Regional High School Alumni Association and loved seeing Fanwood residents on Election Day while serving as a Master Board Worker at the Fanwood Memorial Library. Honors include “Volunteer of the Year” Awards for the Union County Mental Health Association (1997), the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club (1999) and the Scotch Plains Mayor’s Charity Gala (2002).
Carol was passionate about Rutgers Athletics and enjoyed being amemberoftheCagers Club, Court Club, Touchdown Club, and Colonel Henry Rutgers Society. She loved attending Rutgers sporting events and was delighted to share her tickets with other Scarlet Knights fans. In her free time, she enjoyed attending her children’s and grandchildren’s school and sporting events, baking pies, playing bridge, reading newspapers, cooking, shopping, doing jigsaw puzzles, spending time at her home in Fort Lauderdale, traveling for Rutgers Bowl games, and conquering Sudoku. She always made herself available when family, friends, neighbors or acquaintances needed assistance.
Carol is loved and survived by her children and their spouses, William Kraus (Laura), Karen Kraus Jackson (Kevin) and Kathryn Kraus Bolks (Sean); seven grandchildren, Nicholas, Maria, Julia and Daniel Kraus, Emma and Matthew Jackson, and Robert Bolks; her sister, Marilyn Murray (Don); and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband, Robert; her parents, Witold and Stasia Gerry; her sister, Janet Hellmuth; and her brother, Walter Gerry.
Visitation will be at Memorial Funeral Home, 155 South Avenue, Fanwood, on Tuesday, May 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Bartholomew the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Scotch Plains on Wednesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. Guests are encouraged to wear red.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Resolve Community Counseling Center, 1830 Front Street, Scotch Plains, N.J. 07076, or Fanwood Community Foundation, P.O. Box 242, Fanwood, N.J. 07023. Please visit www.fanwoodmemorial.com for additional information or to express condolences.
May 16, 2024
