Howard Louis Kraus

Howard Louis Kraus was laid to rest on Sunday, October 12th in Costa Mesa, CA. He passed away on October 1st surrounded by family and numerous Santa Barbara friends at Cottage Hospital. His body had suffered septic shock. He was so brave about his health issues. He had endured 10 years of dialysis and received good care at The SB Artificial Kidney Center. He was on the list for a kidney transplant. However, his body was battling other health issues while waiting for a kidney. Amazingly, he survived a terrible fall while in Anaheim two years ago. He broke his femur in 3 places. After surgery and months in a rehab center he returned to Santa Barbara. Howard had good medical care in Santa Barbara. Janet Spagna from the Eastside Neighborhood Clinic treated him with the utmost care and respect.

Howard is survived by his loving siblings, Elaine and Paul Kraus, of Anaheim and his beloved cat. He is survived by his first cousins, Lisa Caras and Debbie Caras Gordon, other loving cousins and a plethora of friends. His smile and his loving heart attracted so many people.

Howard lived in Santa Barbara for the past 47 years. He was a proud participant of Path Point. His current job was working at Path Point. One of his main responsibilities was reaching out to other participants and inviting them to Healthy Living Events. Another honor for Howard was being chosen as a board member for Tri Counties Regional Center. He proudly served a 7-year term from 2015 to 2022. He moved to Santa Barbara from Orange County in 1978 to attend Devereaux. He learned to become more independent and also met many lifelong friends. He worked many different jobs throughout the years. However, his favorite job was being a Travel Trainer. He enjoyed teaching others to ride public transportation. He was a mass transit guru. He was a regular rider of MTD and Amtrak. Howard made friends with bus drivers and almost everyone he met. His best friend was Gary Hollowpeter, a now retired MTD driver. If you were kind to him, he would remember it. His favorite color was purple. He enjoyed listening to country music. Howard loved watching funny movies. He was a real foodie. He enjoyed eating at Renaud’s, Farmer Boys, South Coast Deli, and Presto Pasta. He loved chocolate. He loved to laugh. He loved his family. He was very easy to love.

He was the best brother and son. He was the unofficial mayor of Santa Barbara. His presence and kindness is missed by all who knew him.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Howard on Wednesday, December 10th, from 12 to 2pm at the PathPoint office on Laguna.