Barbara Jane Kraus

Born Barbara Jane Sajkowsky in August 1941 in Batavia, New York to Stanley and Janet Sajkowsky, she and her family frequently moved as she grew up, due to her father’s work, with stops in Midland and Plaster City, California, Grants Pass, Oregon and then Palo Alto, California.

Barbara graduated from Occidental College in 1963 with a degree in Education and began what turned out to be a 30+ year career teaching in public schools in Southern California.

In August 1965, she and her roommates threw a party and a young man named Bill Kraus, who attended, sent her a letter afterwards asking her for a date.

The next summer, Bill and Barbara married.

Barbara took a brief break from teaching to have three children, Jennifer, Jeff, and Jonathan.

Then after Jonathan began kindergarten, Barbara returned to the classroom and taught everything from Pre-K to high school for the next nearly 30 years. Most of that time, however, was spent in elementary school classrooms, which she loved. It’s where she perfected what became known as her “classroom voice” and her “playground voice.” She was devoted to and highly invested in her students, and former students frequently still ask about her and share how much they loved having her as their teacher.

In her own three children, she fostered curiosity, adventure and a love of reading, with weekly trips to the public library. She made sure they all knew how to cook, wash and iron their own clothes, and read a map book so they could get anywhere in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in the days before cellphone navigation. She also taught them how to keep score in the program at LA Dodger games and appreciate a wide variety of music by attending concerts and musical theater and listening to her vast record collection.

She loved planning family vacations, often along the Central California coast, that usually included stops at out of the way beaches and hikes along rugged coastline, plus meals at unique local restaurants. She kept a folder of clipped articles from the LA Times and Sunset Magazine for future trips. Many of those clippings also helped her come up with fun adventures and day trips with her three kids around Southern California during the summer months when she wasn’t teaching.

Often called “Babar” (like the famous elephant in children’s stories) by longtime friends, Barbara had quite the sense of humor and as family photos taken over the years will confirm, she had quite a collection of colorful visors. She loved cottage cheese with everything, enjoyed listening to Chick Hearn call the LA Laker games and more recently, loved rewatching episodes of the Cosby Show and Law & Order.

Barbara was also VERY competitive, especially during family games of Uno, where, after each hand, she would make sure everyone counted ALL of their remaining cards.

She was also a longtime bridge player. She and Bill frequently played with friends and in several leagues in Southern California. Since moving to Nashville in 2003, they played in bridge leagues through Cheekwood and the Nashville Women’s Club, where Barbara was also a longtime member and held leadership roles.

During her time in Nashville, Barbara enjoyed water aerobics at the Maryland Farms YMCA and the Gordon Jewish Center, as well as volunteering, teaching adults to read through the Nashville Adult Literacy Council and working with kids who were long-term patients at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

But much of her 23 years in Nashville could be summed up by a shirt she often wore that said, “Someone special calls me Nonna.” That’s what her four grandchildren, Briley, Zach, Mallory, and Shelby, called her. She was very special to them as well. She was actively involved in their lives, as she lived right next door, or later, just down the street. Just as she did with her own three kids, Barbara introduced her grandchildren to cooking, Broadway musicals, and exploring festivals around Middle Tennessee. They often all made the drive to Crossville to see shows at the Cumberland Playhouse. She also drove them to and from school, club activities, play rehearsals, and sports practices and games. No matter where or when her grandchildren’s activities were, “Nonna” was routinely spotted on the sidelines, in the stands or in the audience, cheering them on. Barbara was a frequent volunteer at their schools and was a leader of not one, but two Girl Scout troops.

Dementia in recent years sadly made it impossible for her to do many of the things she loved, but it didn’t take away her feistiness or sassiness, which she often shared with her amazing caregivers Beth Ford, Savanna Jones, and Lexi Mathews. We are eternally grateful to them and their families for all of the love they shared with Barbara.

Barbara and Bill would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on June 25th.

In lieu of a funeral, family and friends celebrated her life by gathering to share memories of Barbara, while listening to her favorite music, and enjoying, as she often did, a tub of chocolate moose tracks ice cream in her honor.

Survived by: Husband - William “Bill” Kraus; ; Sister - Liz Sturgen (Ralph); Children - Jennifer Kraus, Jeff Kraus, Jonathan Kraus (Roxana); Grandchildren - Briley Thomas, Zach Thomas, Mallory Thomas, Shelby Thomas, Cynthia Valencia, Erika Valencia Satterfield (Joey); Great grandchildren - Ellie Satterfield, Ivy Satterfield