Thomas Henry Krakauer

Thomas Henry Krakauer

June 17, 2025

Durham, North Carolina - Thomas Henry Krakauer was born in Buffalo, NY, in 1942, to Dr. Hans and Elizabeth Krakauer, who fled Nazi Germany in 1937. He grew up in the nearby small town of Boston, NY, where the creek behind the family home gave him his first taste of and love for nature. After earning a B.S. from the University of Rochester and an M.S. from the University of Miami, Tom received a Ph.D. in zoology and physiology from the University of Florida in 1970. He married Janet MacColl and they had one son, Alan. The family were accomplished naturalists and spent many happy hours in the wild. He lost his beloved Janet to breast cancer in 2005.

In 1974 he entered the museum field as the director of the Roanoke Valley Science Museum in Roanoke, Virginia. He grew this museum (now the Science Museum of Western Virginia) from a 400-square foot children's museum to a modern regional institution complete with interactive science exhibits and a planetarium. In 1985 Tom accepted the position of president and CEO of Durham's Museum of Life and Science, retiring in 2003 after taking the museum from a small, hometown institution to a leader among museums of science and technology. The beloved Butterfly House is one of the many expansions and improvements that came under his direction.

He was an active member of professional organizations, and his service and consulting helped innovate informal science education throughout the country. He was a dedicated Rotarian and a passionate and accomplished birder, butterfly enthusiast, and genealogist. He was an avid traveler and had visited every continent except for Antarctica. He received many awards and honors for his work and was generous with donations to various organizations, including a permanent endowment in memory of his late wife Janet for support of botanical illustration at UNC-Chapel Hill's North Carolina Botanical Garden. Tom was lead plaintiff in the precedent-setting Krakauer v Dish Network case, which was decided in 2019.

In 2007 Lynn Richardson, vice chair of the committee to start a Durham history museum, contacted Tom about helping out. Committees going back as far as the 1940s had attempted to found a history museum, with no success. Tom accepted the challenge, and soon the budding Museum of Durham History had its nonprofit status, Tom was building an impressive board and acting as its first chair, and the museum was on its way! He continued to work tirelessly for the Museum of Durham History until his health no longer allowed. He made sure all were welcome at the institutions he nurtured. Tom asked the vice chair of the museum committee out, and he and Lynn became dedicated to each other for the rest of his life. Tom moved to Croasdaile Village, a retirement community in Durham, in 2018 and passed away peacefully there.

A memorial is being planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to the Museum of Durham History, the Janet M. Krakauer Endowment Fund (525624) at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the Krakauer Family Fund at the Triangle Community Foundation, or to the museum or charity of your choice.

Survivors include son Alan and his wife Lauri, significant other Lynn Richardson, and numerous cousins and their families.

The family is being assisted by Clements Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc. in Durham. Online condolences may be sent to www.clementsfuneralservice.com.