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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Obituary: Kratofil, Edward Francis

Age 88

KRATOFIL, Edward Francis Passed away peacefully on January 6, 2013, surrounded in love by his family.

He was born July 6, 1925, in Butte, MT, to immigrant parents Michael and Frances (Brozovich) Kratofil.

His mother passed away leaving his father to raise him and his brother and sister.

His father remarried and two more brothers were born.

The family moved to a farm in Hamilton, MT.

Between 1946 and 1948 Ed served in the Army and was stationed in Korea.

After his military years he went back to Hamilton and was working for the Rocky Mountain labs when he met the love of his life, Stella Cornish.

When Stella went to school at Montana State in Bozeman, Ed followed.

They were married September 17, 1949 and Ed worked for Owenhouse Hardware in Bozeman for 6 years.

During this time, his 3 daughters were born.

His son was born in 1960.

In 1956, the family moved to Spokane, WA and Ed went to work for Hotpoint.

He was an appliance repairman for several years with Hotpoint until he was hired by General Electric, where he was transferred to the Industrial Division.

He stayed there until he retired in 1985.

Ed worked long hours providing for his family and so weekends were special.

In the summer he would take the family to the lake or for long rides and a picnic.

In the winter, it was ice skating on a nearby frozen lake or pond or sledding on some hill.

He was always coming up with ways to spend fun times with his family.

In the early 70’s he and Stella built a vacation cabin in Montana, with the help of a nephew and brother-in-law.

This became the family summer home with many happy memories.

Ed was a man who worked with his hands (and big strong hands they were) and he was always building something, whether it was kitchen or bath cabinets, decorative shelves or some family remodeling project.

Above all, Ed loved his family.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Stella, his daughters Diana Justice (Terry), Carol Boileau (Steve) and Sharon Mellis (Bob) all of Spokane and son Mike (Leanne) of Boca Raton, FL; 10 grandchildren, David, Chris , Andrew, Sandra, Katie, Mike, Justin, Amanda, Luke and Keelyn; 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild with another due in May.

He is also survived by his brothers, Joe (MaryLou) in Jackson, MI, and Rudy (Bernice) in Hamilton, MT, and many nieces and nephews and their children.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother John, sister Theresa, and baby brother Michael, who died before Ed was born.

A rosary service will be held at 6:30 pm Friday, January 11, 2013, and the funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 11 a.m.

Both will be held at St. Charles Catholic Church, 4515 N Alberta, Spokane, WA.

We wish to thank the wonderful staff at Cancer Care North and Hospice of Spokane for their excellent care.

The family suggests memorial contributions to St. Charles Catholic Church, where Ed was a 50+ year member, or Hospice of Spokane, 121 S Arthur St., Spokane, WA 99201.