Myra Hiatt Kraft was born on December 27, 1942, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Jacob Hiatt, a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1935, built a successful paper products business, and was a major philanthropist and founder associated with Brandeis University, and Frances Lavine Hiatt, who was actively involved in local philanthropy, serving on boards of banks, hospitals, Girls Inc., and the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Massachusetts. Raised in an observant Jewish household alongside her sister Janice, she was instilled with strong values of community service and philanthropy from an early age, influenced heavily by her parents' legacies. She graduated from Brandeis University in 1964, the institution deeply tied to her family's philanthropic history. Described as a businessperson in public records, her primary legacy extended through extensive charitable work, building on her familial traditions. She was Robert Kraft's first wife (married 1963-2011) and a prominent philanthropist deeply involved in Jewish causes and women's healthcare advocacy. She died from ovarian cancer on July 20, 2011.