Myra Kraft

Myra Hiatt Kraft (née Myra Nathalie Hiatt; December 27, 1942 – July 20, 2011 ) was an American philanthropist and the wife of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft.

Early life and education Kraft was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1942, the daughter of Frances (Lavine) and Jacob Hiatt. Her father was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant who had served as a circuit judge of the Court of Lithuania before immigrating in 1935. Jacob served as president of the E.F. Dodge Paper Box Corp. in Leominster, Massachusetts and remained president when it merged with 12 other box and printing companies to become the Rand-Whitney Corp. and in 1964 she graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in History. She was president and director of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and trustee of the Robert K. and Myra H. Kraft Foundation. She served on the boards of directors of the American Repertory Theatre, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Northeastern University, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, the Jewish Book Council, and Brandeis University.

Kraft and her husband started the "Passport to Israel" Program with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston which provided financial assistance to Jewish parents to send their children to Israel while teenagers to help promote Jewish identity. and the Boston Globe stated she was "forging a whole new form of engaged giving."

Shortly after the 1996 NFL draft, Kraft learned that the Patriots' fifth-round choice, Christian Peter of Nebraska, had a lengthy history of violence against women. At her insistence, coupled by backlash from women's groups and Patriots fans against Peter's signing, the Patriots relinquished Peter's rights only a week after the draft.

Personal life Kraft married Robert Kraft in June 1963 while she was a student at Brandeis. They have four sons: Jonathan A. Kraft is president of The Kraft Group and the New England Patriots. Daniel A. Kraft is president of International Forest Products founded in 1972 by his father. Public services were held at Temple Emanuel in Newton, Massachusetts.