(Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

gone, but not forgotten

Mother of slain Ponoka man says he was loving and courageous

Jan 13, 2020 | 5:30 AM

An affinity for trucks, admiration for both of Alberta’s NHL teams, stubbornness, and love for family are what his mother remembers most about Jeffery Kraft.

The young man from Ponoka died from a gunshot wound he suffered during the early morning hours of Dec. 15 in Lacombe.

He would have turned 21 today (Monday).

His mother, Carrie Cocke, is now sharing the story of her only child, and what the family is doing to ensure his life is honoured.

“I’m completely devastated. I feel like I’ve got no reason to go on. All that matters to me anymore is that people don’t forget how wonderful he was,” says Cocke, who along with Jeffery’s sister Caitlin will be getting custom matching tattoos in his memory.

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Be it swimming, soccer or bowling, Kraft always had to be busy, Cocke says. He even loved math as a child, doing multiplication and division for fun.

“He always had a need for speed. He’d love to go watch the big trucks, like backhoes and stuff. Then we started going to monster truck shows; every single one we could,” she remembers. “He went from a little push Jeep that we’d push around for hours in the backyard, to a battery-powered one, and then he had his own mini Harley and a go-kart.”

Kraft recently bought himself a 2012 Dodge Ram — his dream truck — and according to mom, that was one of his proudest accomplishments.

A recent photo of Jeffery Kraft and his mother Carrie Cocke. (Supplied)

Jeffery was also an avid soapbox derby competitor, travelling all over the province to try his luck. He typically took first or second place.

Cocke adds that while her son was never a partier, he found school somewhat boring. After attending St. Augustine Catholic in Ponoka, he graduated at 17 from the local outreach school and opted to start working, most recently with Skyline Well Testing in Grande Prairie, though he still found plenty of time for his twin nephews and one niece.

“He’d go play mini golf with them. He loved to go with my daughter’s husband who was an avid hunter. He loved to be out there camping, and he loved to fish,” she says.

“And Jeffery believed that if you wanted something, you went out there and you did it; that you don’t need to plan for days and months, and if you want it bad enough, you don’t rely on anybody else.”

Kraft was selfless also, recently purchasing expensive Oilers tickets for his dad Allen’s birthday, a man he idolized, Cocke.

A service for Jeffery Kraft was held Jan. 3. He will be laid to rest this summer alongside his grandfather in Ponoka. Donations were taken in his honour for Ronald McDonald House, where his sister was when she had her sons, and the Stollery Children’s Hospital where the family knew a young boy who passed away from cancer.

“Jeffery was a hard-working, loving and courageous boy, and he was his sister’s life as well mine and his dad’s,” says Cocke, who recalls texting Jeffery the day before his death about meeting to exchange Christmas presents. Jeffery had also asked if she had any Christmas lights he could give to a friend.

“My life is completely torn apart.”

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