Lasting Memories

Kraig Norbert Branner
Jan. 31, 1962-Oct. 16, 2025
San Jose, California

Kraig Norbert Branner was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday, January 31, 1962. He passed away on the Thursday evening of October 16, 2025, at home in San Jose, California.

He graduated from Palo Alto High School and San Jose State University with BS degrees in Industrial Technology and Electrical & Electronics Engineering. A lifelong RF Engineer, Kraig was designing, building and testing products for Defense and Aerospace Industries. His engineering roles span from Test Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Production System Supervisor, Senior Payload Systems Engineer, Senior RF Components Design Engineer, Senior RF (Mixed Signal) Module Engineer to Senior Staff RF Engineer.

He enjoyed mentoring technicians, engineers, supervisors and interns by holding classes at work and demonstrating fundamentals of RF. He had an extraordinary gift for explaining complex engineering applications in a way that brought out the best in his colleagues’s projects and tasks. He was always helping his colleagues write recommendation letters and updating their resumes. He is deeply missed by his wife, Melissa Chee-Branner, of San Jose, California; his parents Dr. George Richard Branner and Martha Branner, of Menlo Park, California; his older brother Kirk Branner, of San Diego, California; his second brother Kent Branner, of Tracy, California; aunt Shirley L. Smith and uncle Alvin Smith; his nephew Kirk Jr. Branner, wife Christine Branner and nephew Mark Branner; his grand-nephews James Branner, Connor Branner, Kaden Branner and Nolan Branner; his cousins Avery D. Watson Jr. and Darren Cordell. He is also deeply missed by his aunts Shirley Green Elmore and Cynthia Elmore; his cousins, McKinley Lewis, Candace Chambers-Belida, Stephen T. Webb, Duane Webb, Kelly Elmore, Neil Elmore, Tonya Carr, Byron Elmore, Glenna Jo Tramell, Judy Washington, Jamie Martin, Tamara Edwards, Misha Smith, Tara Smith, Lisa Williams and many more. Kraig’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 15th at First Palo Alto United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto, CA 94301 from 11 - 12 pm with a reception to follow upstairs in the Fellowship Hall from 12 - 3 pm.