BJ was born February 16th, 1925 in San Antonio, Texas, the youngest of four children of Houston Peter “HP” and Essie (Anthony) Finigan. She was raised in San Antonio where she graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1942.
BJ met Albert O. Krafft at a dance and they married on January 26th, 1946. In 1955. Al and BJ loaded up their Hudson Jet and a small trailer with their two young children and all their belongings and moved to Spokane where they spent the rest of their lives. Al and BJ celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary before Al died in 2016.
BJ was active in the community, providing generous financial support and belonging to organizations engaged in promoting social justice and protecting the environment. When she witnessed injustice, she could be a force to be reckoned with.
On the lighter side, she would give the simple advice “Have fun.” BJ loved to spend time with family and friends, dance, watch movies, hear a good joke, listen to music, and travel. In the early years, travel meant loading up the family car for the long drive to Texas to visit relatives, visiting national parks and other stops along the way. Later travel included trips with Al to Europe, reunions of the USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Millette (APA-156) and daughter’s USS Ajax (AR-6) held around the country, cruises up the Mississippi River, to Hawaii, Alaska, and multiple trips through the Panama Canal.
BJ is preceded in death by her parents, HP and Essie Finigan, brother Lawrence Finigan, sisters Norine Huegele and Kathryn Deres. She is survived by daughter Betty L. Krafft and son Albert Wayne (Patti) Krafft and grandson Casey Krafft.
A celebration of BJ’s life will be held in the chapel at Riverview Retirement Community on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 2:00 PM. For those not living at Riverview, please call (509) 866-6647 regarding the current COVID 19 protocols at the facility. In lieu of flowers, BJ and family suggest a donation be made to Partnering for Progress, a local nonprofit building relationships with villages in Kenya’s Kopanga region to help them create flourishing communities by improving their quality of life in the areas most important to them.
The family would like to thank all the staff at Riverview Terrace for the professional and gentle care they provided to BJ in her last days.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.HazenJaegerValley.com for the Krafft family.
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