Myra Hiatt Kraft, the beloved wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a philanthropist whose outsized heart and countless good works touched thousands of lives across the region and around the globe, died yesterday after a battle with cancer. She was 68.
Mrs. Kraft died at about 5 a.m. yesterday at the couple’s Chestnut Hill home. “We are all heartbroken,” the team said in a statement, calling her death a “great loss.”
A Worcester native and 1964 graduate of Brandeis University, Mrs. Kraft became the first lady of football in New England, standing as a symbol of morality and a model citizen to Patriots players, many of whom lamented her passing yesterday.
“As a young player/man she was a (great) example of how a woman stands beside, not behind, a man of power,” ex-Pats great Lawyer Milloy tweeted. “I never got a chance to say thanks (for) that lasting impression. R.I.P. You will be missed.”
When her husband bought the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million — an NFL record at the time — she “thought it was nuts,” Robert Kraft said in an interview with The Associated Press in January. “She was afraid it would affect our charitable giving, and I said, ‘We will do more for the community if we run this franchise correctly.’ ”
Over the next 17 years, while her husband oversaw the Patriots’ transformation from a team that was 19-61 in the previous five seasons to three-time Super Bowl champs, she managed the Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation and became president of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, which contributed millions of dollars to charities in the United States and Israel.
“With her great heart and magnificent spirit, Myra lived her life in service to those who needed her help,” Barry Shrage, president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, said in a statement. “Her personal acts of loving kindness were an essential part of who she was as a person. No one in need was ever turned away.”
Mrs. Kraft was a smiling fixture at Patriots charitable events, but mostly steered clear of the team’s operations. The one time she is known to have intervened was in 1996 when the team drafted Christian Peter, a Nebraska linebacker with a record of abusing women. After she lashed out publicly against the pick, Peter was given his walking papers.
She was also a long-standing supporter of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where her husband is a trustee, providing critical resources that improved the way the hospital cares for its patients. Most recently, the couple provided funding to create a community oncology and health disparities outreach program and to support women’s cancers research.
“The Dana-Farber community and I are greatly saddened by the passing of Myra Kraft,” said Dr. Edward J. Benz Jr., Dana-Farber’s president. “She was a remarkable person who graciously shared her intellect, energy and resources to help many organizations and the people they serve, including Dana-Farber. I hope the Kraft family can find comfort knowing that their support of Dana-Farber has benefitted cancer patients worldwide, and that it stands as a fitting testament to Myra and her commitment to help others.”
Cardinal Sean O’Malley called Mrs. Kraft a “strong advocate for serving the less fortunate.”
“Together with her husband, Robert, they have been great supporters of worthy organizations like Catholic Charities,” O’Malley said. “Her dedication and commitment to serving those in need and her willingness to enlist others in that important work will be greatly missed. We ask God to provide comfort to Robert and their family during their time of sorrow. We pray for Myra and give thanks for her life. May her memory be for a blessing.”
Myra Hiatt was born in 1942 and raised in Worcester, the daughter of Jacob and Francis Hiatt.
She married Robert Kraft in June 1963 while she was a student at Brandeis University. They went on to have four sons — Jonathan, now president of the Patriots; Daniel, president and CEO of International Forest Products; Joshua, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston; and David — and eight grandchildren.
She was elected a Brandeis trustee in 1986 and became a generous donor to the university and a member of the search committee that selected Frederick M. Lawrence as president last July.
“Myra was a true Brandeisian,” Lawrence said in a statement yesterday. “She was always reaching out to students, faculty and other trustees and served as a model to all of us in so many ways.”
In 1995, Kraft became the first woman to chair the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, a position she held until 2002. She served the past two years as chairwoman of the board of directors of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.
Services will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Temple Emanuel in Newton.
Dave Wedge and Herald wire services contributed to this report.
