Karen Marie Cracas

Karen M. J. Cracas Staunton -- Karen "Kay" Marie Jarratt Cracas, 74, beloved wife of Thomas L. Cracas, of 215 Fillmore Street, Staunton, VA passed away peacefully early Wednesday, August 14, at her residence. Kay was born in Columbus, Ohio on March 5, 1939, the daughter of the late Howard M. Jarratt and the late Ingebrog (Larsen) Jarratt. After moving to the Boston area, she graduated from Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, MA and went on to Westbrook Junior College. Kay began her career as a bookkeeper at Peck & Peck in Providence, RI after her marriage to Tom on June 20, 1959. While raising their three boys as her husband taught Latin at Kent School in Kent, CT, she acted in loco parentis for 32 years of Kent girls. During that time she completed class work in retail banking studies. She retired from Danbury Savings Bank in 1998. Kay committed herself to the service of others through her involvement in various non-profit organizations including Kent Center School Scholarship Fund (board member, president, and lead for non-profit corporation establishment) and Kent Chamber of Commerce (treasurer). After moving to Staunton, VA in 1998, she continued her life of service though the Friends of the Staunton Library and as co-chair with her husband of its Book Sale. As a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church Women, she served on the board and later as president. In 2006, she was appointed coordinator of the Trinity Noon Lunch Program and transformed the program into the present organization which serves 900 meals monthly through a 21-church group network. In addition to her parents, Kay was preceded in death by her single sibling David Arthur Jarratt, Ret. Lt. Col (Army). Besides her husband, survivors include her three sons, Thomas "Tod" Louis Cracas, Jr and his wife Teresa (Currin), David "Scott" Williams Cracas and his wife Karen Francis (Cross) and Kenneth Larsen Cracas, plus eight beautiful grandchildren who she loved deeply and thought of every day. She will also be missed by her many nieces, nephews and friends. A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 17, 2013, at Trinity Episcopal Church by the Rev. Dr. Paul Nancarrow. There will be a reception in McCracken Hall following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in her name be made to the Trinity Noon Lunch Program or to The Kay Cracas Award, Kent Center School Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 794, Kent, CT 06757. Henry Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.