Pauline Dorothy Kraw

1922 - 2016

Pauline Dorothy Kraw
April 6, 1922 - April 27, 2016
Resident of Los Gatos
Pauline Kraw died peacefully at her home in Los Gatos last Wednesday evening after a brief illness. The lifelong resident of the Bay Area was the widow of George Kraw, who passed away in 2008, just short of their 63rd wedding anniversary. The couple were childhood sweethearts and high school prom dates who met while growing up in the tight-knit if politically fractious Yugoslav community in east Oakland before the Second World War. Born in Oakland to immigrant parents Martin and Matija Herceg, Pauline herself did not speak English until she entered the first grade. But she later went on to get a certificate from Heald College and worked for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. Her life was vastly different from that of her mother Matija, who had been raised in a rural village on the Dalmatian coast, left school after the fourth grade, and had an arranged marriage at 19 to Martin, who came from the same village but who she had not seen since he left Europe ten years earlier.

Engaged in 1942, Pauline married George in November, 1945, shortly after his return from the European combat theater and service as a lieutenant in the American forces occupying Germany. She briefly became an Army wife until George was demobilized and they moved back to Oakland. The couple's first home was in the Fruitvale district of Oakland in a duplex owned by her father Martin, who had worked his way up from washing dishes in a West Oakland restaurant to owning a modest shoe repair business on East 14th Street (now International Blvd.) as well as other properties . A few years later George and Pauline moved to Kensington with their two children George and Pam, and then to Los Gatos, where in 1965 they moved into the house they built and where Pauline passed away 51 years later. Her years in Los Gatos first focused on raising her family, and then, after her children grew up, being with friends and doing charitable work. Always athletic, she took up golf in middle age and became an enthusiastic member of the La Rinconada nine-hole group. In her later years, she spent much time with her grandchildren, Scott and Claire, who she adored. She was devastated when Scott tragically died in a traffic accident at 25 in 2008, a few weeks before George's passing.

Towards the last years of his life, Pauline became the primary caregiver for George, who had developed illnesses that left him unable to drive or read. The new responsibilities energized her and made her even more independent. When George died, she stayed in her home, managing her own care with the aid of various helpers. She remained fiercely protective of her autonomy until the end. When an accident made it difficult for her to continue driving, she hired a driver to take her shopping and to her weekly beauty salon appointment. She had her manicurist come to her house. She loved going out to dinner with her granddaughter Claire, a manager with Google's YouTube division. Pauline was a frequent attendee at social events at her son's law firm, always arriving dressed immaculately and in full makeup. An accomplished cook and baker herself, she loved going out to restaurants. A few days before her final illness, she celebrated her 94th birthday with family at the Michael Mina restaurant in San Jose, where she eagerly questioned the staff—to the staff's delight--about its operations and menu choices.

Pauline is survived by her son and daughter-in-law George and Raphael Shannon Kraw of San Jose, her daughter and son-in-law Pamela and Frank Stapleton of Santa Barbara; her granddaughter Claire Stapleton and Claire's husband Shane Neufeld of Brooklyn, New York; and her brother John Herceg of Lihue, Hawaii. Friends and family are invited to a memorial service on Thursday, May 5th, at 11 AM at Darling Fishcher Chapel of the Hills 615 North Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, followed by a luncheon reception at La Rinconada Country Club. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Pauline's favorite charity, Hope Services 30 Las Colinas Lane, San Jose, CA 95119-1212 www.hopeservices.org.


View the online memorial for Pauline Dorothy Kraw