Timothy Peter Kraay

Timothy Peter Kraay was born on September 2, 1955, in Owatonna, Minnesota, the youngest of seven children, to Jochem Cornelius (J.C.) and Doris (Larson) Kraay. Tim passed away on September 21, 2019 due to complications from a duodenal ulcer, he was 64. Tim lived in several places during his life - Owatonna, Fort Collins, Greeley, Evans and his latest address in Loveland, Colorado.

Tim was raised on the family farm, constructed on an old bog near Hollandale, where J.C. and the elder brothers of the Kraay family grew vegetables for the Green Giant vegetable cannery. Tim grew and grew (and became big enough by eating all those wonderful veggies) to help with the farming and fixing farm equipment. As a friend once stated - he never met a potato, bean or other vegetable he didn't like, including brussels sprouts!

One of Tim's first paying jobs, in high school, was with a tool and die company making precison parts to various manufacturing specifications. He enjoyed this work and it gave him the skill set to be able to read diagrams and make parts to within the tolerances allowed and to make things fit.

Another of Tim's jobs during high school was as a bouncer at a bar in Owatonna. When he turned 18 he told them that he was now legal to have alcohol, the owners and managers were surprised because he had already been working there for months! He would continue to work in the bar/bouncer business for quite a while.

Tim also worked in the other family business, joining his 'older little' brother David, his dad, his other brothers and his mom at Tonna Heating and Cooling, where he learned the HVAC and sheet metal trade, eventually becoming a Journeyman Sheet Metal Worker. He was able to take measurements and build duct to fit the FIRST time! Tim always thanked his father for his work ethics of honesty and hard work.

Tim finally decided to travel the country and worked in Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. Tim was a member of Sheetmetal Union, Local #9, Denver, Colorado, spending most of his years in Colorado with U.S. Engineering. He worked on schools and colleges, hospitals, casinos and large construction projects like the Scheels store in Johnstown. Tim's skills were such that he could listen to a running roof-top HVAC unit and determine that the bearings had been damaged when the unit was set. Tim also worked for Air Comfort, Perco, Kuck and finally RK where he was injured on the job and could no longer use his shoulder for construction work.

Tim wasn't always a patient teacher as attested to by some of the apprentices that he taught and the men that he supervised. He was a tough taskmaster, making them work for their learning but was fair in his decisions. In the past few years some of these men that he taught, recognizing his gravelly voice and his infectious laugh, came up and thanked him personally for demonstrating his work ethic and the many other skills necessary to get ahead in the trade - such as reading plans and making measurments from them; determining elevation levels for plumbing, electrical and ductwork and volunteering to coordinate with the other contractors on the job to make installations easier for everyone.

Tim didn't like crowds but he liked people. He was generous with his friends and acquaintences helping several of the Veterans with furnace repairs and installations at a discount so as not to adversely affect their fixed incomes - even on weekends; assisting others with projects that needed an additional hand - whether it be with plumbing, electrical, trimming trees or cutting meat and repairing almost anything using his farm earned talent for logical thinking.

Tim had a variety of interests and was known to be a judge for everythhing from horse pulling contests to chili cookoffs. He enjoyed cooking, making concoctions from scratch and also called himself the "King of the Leftovers," a skill he learned while hunting. He liked to hunt and fish but gave it up due to travel restraints while working - he was known to have travelled over 100 miles into the wild back waters of Minnesota, by canoe. Tim also had a unique life experience, being a partner, working on the roads of Minnesota in a Winnebago in one of the first mobile hair salons - "The Internatonal Hair Runner", which was eventually sold to one of the more famous hair designers of the time. Tim was generous and would give you the shirt off his back and even the hair off his head, donating three crops to 'Locks of Love.' Tim enjoyed working with copper and built restaurant hoods, awnings and several fountains for family and friends, using unique shapes for the leaves to drip onto the lower levels. Tim also loved to dance and you could find him on any given day at the Associated Veterans Club, the Elks or any place with a dance floor or an empty place to move, tripping away with a variety of women who also enjoyed dancing - but his favorite was to dance in the kitchen, swinging and swaying to CDs or the radio - set to a country station.

To honor his father who served in WWII, Tim belonged to the Sons of the American Legion in Fort Collins where he was a Past Commander of the Squadron, before transferring his membership to the Loveland SAL Squadron 15 when he moved. Tim designed and volunteered to help put together a bell made of an antique scuba diving tank for the Annual Bell Ringing Salute to Veterans in Loveland, on Veterans Day. He also donated his time and skills to build a space in the attic for the ladies who cook the Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day meals to store their cooking equipment, pots and pans and supplies. You could also find him donating guns to be raffled, working on the gas lines, the air conditioning, the heat, the plumbing, the doors and locks, the refrigeration, the coolers and even giving a helping hand to change kegs.

Tim loved nature and one of his favorite things to do on a warm evening was to sit on the patio he built of 177 railroad ties and several hundred pavers. He loved to watch the sunset or the clouds forming a storm over eastern Colorado, while sitting back, smelling the scent of the lilacs and the 31 rose bushes he planted, listening to music and drinking a beer.

The traits attributed to Tim's name are so true - idealistic, highly imaginative, smart, spirited, individualistic, intuitive, pioneering, strong willed, ambitious, independent, successful and spiritual. He valued his good reptation, he valued the beauty in nature, his laughter was quite contagious, his family was foremost in his heart and mind, he believed in mankind's ability to love, he's admired for his courageous nature, he enjoyed spending time outdoors and his complements were sincere and genuine.

Tim is survived by his significant other, Cleona Kading, an ex-wife Shari Martin, a brother David (Leigh Ann) Kraay and a sister Debra (Kevin) Grose of Owatonna.

Tim is preceded in death by his parents, two brothers Michael Kraay and Ronald Kraay, two sisters Barbara Kraay and Joan Marie Kraay.

A memorial service has been scheduled for him at the Associated Veterans Club in Loveland, Colorado, 3rd and Cleveland, starting at 1 pm on October 12th. It will be a potluck.