Myra Kraft

Kraft died from ovarian cancer on July 20, 2011, at age 68, in her Brookline, Massachusetts home. Public services were held at Temple Emanuel in Newton, Massachusetts. In her memory, all Patriots players wore a patch on their uniforms bearing Kraft's initials (MHK) throughout the 2011 season.

Shortly after the 1996 NFL Draft, Kraft learned that the Patriots' fifth-round choice, Christian Peter of Nebraska, had a lengthy history of violence against women. At her insistence, coupled by backlash from women's groups and Patriots fans against Peter's signing, the Patriots relinquished Peter's rights only a week after the draft.

Kraft married Robert Kraft in June 1963 while she was a student at Brandeis. They have four sons:

In 1960, Kraft graduated from the private Bancroft School in Worcester, and in 1964 she graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in History.

Myra Hiatt Kraft (née Myra Nathalie Hiatt; December 27, 1942 – July 20, 2011) was an American philanthropist and the wife of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft.

Kraft was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1942, the daughter of Frances (Lavine) and Jacob Hiatt. Her father was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant who had served as a circuit judge of the Court of Lithuania before immigrating in 1935. His parents and three other members of his family were murdered during the Holocaust. He went on to become a well-known philanthropist and leader in the Jewish community. Jacob served as president of the E.F. Dodge Paper Box Corp. in Leominster, Massachusetts and remained president when it merged with 12 other box and printing companies to become the Rand-Whitney Corp. Rand-Whitney was bought by his son-in-law, Robert Kraft, in 1972.