Paul Kenneth Kraby of Rutland, 79, passed away peacefully with family in Lakeland, Florida on Dec. 22, 2021. Born in Decorah, Iowa on June 27, 1942 to Kenneth and Katherine Kraby, nee Heaton. Paul is survived by his sons, Jason and Christopher Kraby, daughter, Jeanne Steinberg- Bolinger, grandsons, Marlon and Jaxson, and sister, Kathleen (Curt) Ladish. He is pre-deceased by his father, mother, and brother, Larry Kraby.
Paul Kraby was raised in Iowa and then Wisconsin in the late 1940s and 1950s. He took on responsibility at the early age of 11 and worked on a local farm in the summertime to earn money for the family to make ends meet. Much of his spare time was spent at home caring for and raising his younger sister Kathleen, and with the local Boy Scout troop. Later on, during high school, he liked football and loved his cars.
After high school he joined the Air Force Reserves, boxed for a short time, tried recreational flying, and landed a job at General Telephone. He would spend the next 50 years climbing poles and working on every kind of phone system from the old party lines of the 1960s, to modern day fiber optics. For a few of those years, he even achieved perfect attendance. He loved his job, frequently working late in the night to repair down Telco lines. He also loved communication in general. The lines he watched over connected him with the customers he got to know through the years.
Kraby was a people person and loved a good conversation or story. He also spent time later in life working on raising money for the March of Dimes— he hit the $120,000 mark by the end of his participation in fundraising.
In his spare time he loved attending car shows and air shows, but mostly he enjoyed spending time outdoors. He always said he was born 100 years too late. I believe he imagined he could have been a mountain man frontier trapper. Later in life, a few years after retiring, after 55 years of being separated by adoption, he was pleasantly reunited with his daughter, Jeanne. He was so glad to finally meet her and really enjoyed getting to know her and her family, often calling to just catch up for last several years of his life.
He carried with him from a young age a sense of kindness and selfless duty for those with a tougher lot in life. He did a lot of good for a lot of people and didn’t ask for anything in return. He took care of his family and passed on some valuable life lessons. He will be missed by all who knew him.
A remembrance of life will be held June 26 in the Killington area at a location to be announced. In lieu of flowers donate to the March of Dimes.
