Patriots among many paying respects to Myra Kraft

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By Mary Paoletti
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @mary_paoletti

The funeral for Myra H. Kraft, wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, was held on Friday, July 22.

Service attendance was massive, but a number well short of all those touched in some way by her passion and generosity.

New England players of present and past fame were there to pay respects, from Tom Brady to Troy Brown (her "favorite Patriot").

Separate sides of the NFL labor battle -- DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell -- came together on a matter more important than football.

And famous faces from outside the sports world, like Donald Trump and Governor Deval Patrick, took time to look in on the memorial.

She was a celebrity, not for her name, but for the scope of her philanthropy. The funeral's program -- white with Tiffany blue trim -- describes, at its heart, the woman mourners knew.
During her 40-plus year career as an active philanthropist, Myra served on and chaired boards and committees for virtually all of the city's major non-profit organizations. The one position of which she was most proud was becoming the first woman to serve as Chair of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston in their 110-year history.

But the first pages showed more intimate scenes.

Myra standing between her four sons: Jonathan, Daniel, Joshua and David.

Myra sitting with her eight grandchildren: Jessica, Alison, Harry, Rebecca, Sadie, Anna, Jacob, and Joey.

Frozen in black and white, holding her youngest in front of a tree where the three elder boys perched, Robert looking on.

She sorted clothes, watered Marigolds. And in three different frames from three different eras, she stood beside her husband -- ever smiling, ever his blushing bride.

Robert walked behind the coffin as his grandchildren bore it to the hearse. He laid a kiss on the closed door between him and his wife before the hearse left for the cemetery.

His sweetheart needed him one last time.

Mary Paoletti can be reached at mpaoletti@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Mary on Twitter at http:twitter.comMary_Paoletti

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