Dr. John Kraus

Dr. John (Jack) N. Kraus, 94, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Sunday, April 11 at the Regency at South Shore where he lived for the past 4 years.  He was born on April 7, 1927, the second youngest of 10 children on the lower East side of Erie.  He had a wonderful and rich childhood with summers of gardening and fishing on Lake Erie.  He often spoke of the many interesting early jobs he held such as paperboy, pier builder, book seller for his older sister, Sr. Mary Margaret Kraus, and cleaning at Kraus Department Store.

He took German language classes at Cathedral Prep and graduated from Erie Tech High School in 1944.  He entered the Navy at 17 years old at the end of WWII and was assigned to a ship based in the Philippines.  After the Navy, he returned to Erie and attended Gannon University on the G.I. Bill and then the University of Pittsburgh Dental School on an ROTC Scholarship. 

Jack met his wife Dorothy Anderson in the 2^nd grade at St. Mary’s Elementary School in Erie and they married in 1951.  After they married, she worked at the Grant Paper Co. in Pittsburgh, Pa. While he attended Dental School.  He loved Dentistry and practiced in Erie until he was 70 years old. He enjoyed the many patients he treated (tortured) and relished seeing them out in the community!  He wants to be remembered as a good dentist who helped a lot of people.

Jack and Dorothy enjoyed traveling (usually to warm places), card games (especially pinochle), gardening, bowling, and tennis. He enjoyed horseshoes, fishing, walking, watching college (Pitt) and NFL (Steelers) football and after he retired, spending winters in Florida.  He loved Lake Erie and being outside, but mostly, he loved being surrounded by his family, friends and neighbors.  A generous and caring individual, he liked to laugh, tell jokes, and spend precious time with his wife, children, grandchildren and large extended family.  He was a member of the East Erie Turners, Erie Maennerchor Club, and St. George's Catholic Parish.  He was genuinely interested in everyone and had an unbelievable memory for the people he met in his lifetime.

Son of the late Helen (Frank) and John Kraus, he is survived by his loving wife of 69 years Dorothy (Dottie Anderson) Kraus, three children:  Janet and Jon Sedelmyer, Jack and Diane (Gillingham) Kraus, and Greg Kraus and partner Michael Smith; Grandson Christian Sedelmyer and partner Alexa Voytek and Granddaughters Katelyn (Sedelmyer) and her husband Andrew Lyons, Laura (Kraus) and her husband Joe Lovenshimer, Danielle Kraus, and Great Granddaughter Margot Lovenshimer. He is also survived by two of his 9 siblings Dorothy (Kraus) Green and Claire (Kraus) Weber, and many cousins, nephews and nieces.  Our family would like to thank the staff of the Regency and Lecom Health VNA Hospice for their kind care of our father.

Friends and family may call on Thursday, April 15th at Burton Quinn Scott Funeral Home, 3801 West 26^th Street, Erie from 3:00p.m. to 5:00pm.  A funeral mass will take place on Friday, April 16th at 10am at St. George Catholic Church, Erie. The  mass will be livestreamed and can be viewed at youtube.com at the St. George Church Erie page.   Burial will be private in Calvary Cemetery.

 Memorial donations may be made to the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, 6101 East Lake Road, Erie, PA  16511 or St. George Catholic Church, 5145 Peach Street, Erie, PA  16509.

Send condolences at www.BurtonQuinnScott.com