Christine Kraus

Christine Mary Kraus Christine Mary Kraus was born on May 24th, 1951 and was the second daughter out of six children. Christine's older sister is Barbara, and her younger brothers are Robert, Mark (deceased), Mike (deceased), and Scott Kraus. She also had a younger sister Stacy who passed away shortly after birth. At the beginning of Christine's life, she was called an Irish Twin with her sister Barbara. Everyone thought they were twins, but Christine was born ten months after Barbara. As a child, some of her happiest memories were: taking care of her little brothers, listening to music and spending summers at the family lake cottage with their grandparents. Everyone spent their time swimming, skiing, canoeing, and sailing with each other and their Aunt, Uncles, cousins and friends. When high school came around, Christine enrolled at Divine Savior High school and was known as a very social person. She became involved in many activities such as being on the yearbook staff and creating art projects. In her senior year of high school, she designed the yearbook cover and years later her design was used as the cover for their fiftieth reunion book. In 1969, she graduated from Divine Savior Highschool and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she later received a Bachelor's of Art undergraduate degree in 1973 and then her master's degree in social welfare in 1974. Christine worked as a social worker in Milwaukee County for approximately 10 years after graduating and before deciding to go back to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for law school. She graduated with her law degree in 1985, passed the Bar Exam and began work as an assistant District Attorney for Milwaukee County Children's Court where she worked until retiring. When Christine was in her mid-fifties, she began her own interior decorating service called Silver Mantel Interiors. She thoroughly enjoyed staging homes for realtors and decorating for clients and friends. Christine had really wanted a child and found that Russian orphanages were overflowing. With this information, Christine went through a single mother adoption from Russia and brought her daughter Audrianna home, to America, on February 14th, 1998. Valentine's Day remained a special day that Christine and Audrianna celebrated together every year. Throughout the years, they lived in Wauwatosa where they built wonderful memories with their family, which include: a love for golden retrievers, the annual 4th of July holiday breakfast and parade, Thanksgiving at the lake, decorating their 12-foot Christmas tree, themed birthday parties for Audrianna, (during her younger years), and family vacations to California and Disney World. Christine's friends have said she was an integral part of their friend group; always sharing gossip, laughter, and planning the future. Out of all Christine's achievements, she was most proud of the person she had become; for herself, her family and for Audrianna. She was always dedicated to her family and dear friends. She will be remembered as charismatic, kind-hearted, fun-loving, generous, very creative and having a natural talent for design. She had a strong desire to do good in the world and found many ways to do it. Christine was known for her courage to pursue a variety of interests, her big heart and always helping a friend in need. Her work, generosity and talent are an inspiration to all who knew her and will be cherished forever. A Memorial gathering will be held at Schramka Funeral Home, 13220 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield on Thursday, December 10 from 4-7 PM.