Joan Dorothy Auchter Kraft, 91, died Dec. 23, 2015, at her home in Bethlehem after a period of declining health. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was a daughter of the late Joseph Aloysius Auchter and Dorothy Mueller Auchter.

She was the wife of the late R. Wayne Kraft Jr.

She was valedictorian, secretary of the student body, active in the Junior Red Cross and president of the drama club when she attended Haddonfield Memorial High School.

She attended the College of New Rochelle and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in home economics. She studied death and dying at Allentown College, where she received an honorary doctorate for her church and civic activities.

She was in the clinical pastoral education program at St. Luke’s Hospital, Fountain Hill.

She taught at Connecticut College for Women in the late 1940s.

She was a member of St. Anne’s Church, Bethlehem, where she was a song leader, taught CCD classes, lector and eucharistic minister. She was on the parish council, was active in the Cursillo program, was a director of the RCIA program and a co-founder of the bereavement committee. She was active in assisting parish hosted Vietnamese refugees. She was a coordinator for parish volunteers at New Bethany Ministries.

She was given the 2008 Pilgrim Award by the Jesuit Center, Wernersville, for her 30 years of retreat attendance and for supporting the center.

She was the first Catholic woman to be a volunteer associate chaplain and new chaplain trainer at St. Luke’s, and volunteered in this position for 25 years. She was on the advisory board of the Catholic Social Bureau of the Allentown Diocese and on the board of directors of the Catholic Social Agency.

She is survived by three sons, Steven W. and his wife Margot R. K. Hillman and Brian J., all of Bethlehem, and the Rev. T. Kevin Kraft with the Dominican Friars in Nairobi, Kenya; a daughter, Ellen M. and her husband Vincent F. Brugger of Bethlehem and Brooksville, Fla.; a grandson, Benjamin J. Kraft of Mountain View, Calif. a brother, John F. and his wife Jane Guthrie Auchter of Lake Mary, Fla.; seventeen nieces and nephews; grand-nieces and grand-nephews; and several cousins.

She was predeceased by a brother, Thomas J. Auchter; and a sister, Judith A. Pfarr.

Contributions may be sent to New Bethany Ministries, 337 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA 18015; Dominican Friars-Kenya, c/o Dominican Mission Office, 141 E 65th St., New York, N.Y. 10065; or Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2811 Moyers Lane, Reading, PA 19605.

Arrangements were made by Connell Funeral Home Inc., Bethlehem Pa 18018.