Russell James Kraay was born in Indiana on April 24, 1926, and passed away on January 4, 2025. Among the people who loved him very much are his daughter, Marta Ann Kraay, (Mark Highsmith); and his son, David Kraay (Donna Kraay); as well as the rest of the family and many other close friends. Gwendolyn Lemmen Kraay (Russ’s wife since 1951) died in 2014. He will be buried next to her in Pilgrim Home Cemetery. He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and by those whose lives he touched with his kindness and generosity.
After serving in the Navy as a signalman on the SS Loyola Victory, Russ graduated from Hope College in 1949. He earned his PhD from Michigan State in 1955 and went on to work at Eli Lilly where his research was significant in many aspects of drug research. He worked there for almost three decades before retiring to Florida. He enjoyed traveling and visited almost every state and many different countries.
A resident of Shell Point (Ft. Myers) since 2003, he taught computer classes there well into his 90’s. He also loved sharing his baking efforts with his family and neighbors, as well as music, gardening and learning new things.
Prior to moving to Shell Point, he was a member of the Burnt Store Presbyterian Church in Punta Gorda for twenty years, serving as an elder and singing in the choir. He was an active church member his entire life and most recently he became a member of The Village Church at Shell Point. He was in the care of Hope Hospice for the past seventeen months.
Dykstra Funeral Home in Holland, Michigan will handle the burial in Pilgrim Home Cemetery.
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