Mary Kraft, Owner, President and CEO of Mary Kraft Staffing and HR Solutions died of cancer, May 26 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was 66. The energetic and gregarious business woman was born in Baltimore where she resided on Evesham Ave and attended Woodburn Jr High school and was a 1963 graduate of Eastern High School. She was active in a variety of alumni activities including the planning of several class reunions and was in regular contact with several classmates including one who visited her at Hopkins yesterday. The daughter of a plumbing entrepreneur and a southern born pianist and homemaker, Mary was proud of both her Georgia and Baltimore roots. Her mother, Mildred Novak, was a member of the DAR and her father Leo Novak was a long time member of the Colts Corral who kept ties with several of the players until his death. Several of the Colts served as pall bearers for Mr. Novak. Mary worked in administrative support roles in several industries after her graduation from Eastern High School and married Vernon L. Kraft in 1964. In 1974 she joined Staff Builders and discovered her talent for sales and leadership in the employment industry where she established herself as a top performer nationally within the Staff Builders organization. She met Linda Balestrini at Staff Builders and in 1989, when Mary left Staff Builders to start Mary Kraft & Associates, Inc., Linda became her Vice President. The two worked together until her death, a winning team in the staffing industry for over 27 years. One of Mary's proudest accomplishments in recent years has been the addition of her daughters in law, Paula and Rebecca to the staff at Mary Kraft. The subject of many Baltimore Business Journal and Baltimore Sun articles about top performing woman-owned businesses over the years, Mrs. Kraft told one reporter in 2009, "The lessons learned in my experience at Staff Builders have served me well and enabled me to mentor, teach and train my staff to devote themselves to our clients' success—and have a great time doing it." Mary was just as passionate about giving back to the community as she was about imparting her knowledge to her staff. Mary and her staff partnered with Deborah Ward at Baltimore's Fund for Social Welfare each Thanksgiving and Christmas to provide food and presents to needy families in the Baltimore area. She also participated in various community projects sponsored by the Fund throughout the year including Coats for Kids and a Back to School Supplies Drive. Mrs. Kraft was a tireless advocate for higher education and women in business and she was a popular speaker with many minority business and women's advocacy groups until her death. Mary was a Lifetime Board Member of Affiliated Staffing Group, an organization of independently owned staffing companies across the U.S. She served several terms as the President of the Baltimore Chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives International. Prior to serving on its executive board, in 2007 Mary received an award from Baltimore County for outstanding service to the community and excellence in upholding the principles of Good Neighbor Week. She also received the Bridging the Gap Achievement Award from The Greater Baltimore Committee for outstanding contributions to the growth and expansion of the minority business community in the Greater Baltimore region. First and foremost, however, Mary Kraft was a family woman. Her greatest love and admiration were clearly for her parents, siblings, sons, daughters in law, grandchildren, in-laws and nieces and nephews. Her hopes and dreams for their future and her pride and joy in their many accomplishments topped the list of her topics of conversation. Mary was pre-deceased by her husband Vernon Leon Kraft of 48-years who passed away several weeks ago. She is survived by her 2 sons, Vernon and Jim, daughters-in-law, Paula and Rebecca, 7 Grandchildren – Tyler, Trevor, Katherine, Jason, Will, Amanda and Lauren, her sister Norma Baker and brother in Law, Albert Baker. Also, several nieces and nephews.

Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc. 1050 York Road (Beltway Exit 26A)on Tuesday, 3-5 and 7-9 PM, where a funeral service will be held on Wednesday at 11 AM. Interment Private. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Mary's memory to the Kimmel Cancer Center One Charles Center, 100 North Charles Street, Suite 234 Baltimore, MD 21201.