GUILDERLAND — Blanche M. Pratt, the former owner of Candy Kraft Candies, died on Sunday, March 22, 2015. She was 96.

Mrs. Pratt was born in New Jersey, but grew up on a working farm on Curry Road. She graduated from Draper High School in Rotterdam.

She married Alton Durfee Sr. shortly after graduating from high school, and the two lived on Carman Road, where they raised two sons.

While raising her family, Mrs. Pratt worked for local farmers.

“She was a hard-working woman all her life,” said her son, Alton Durfee Jr.

She began working for Ball’s Candy and, in 1958, she and her second husband, Loren Pratt, bought the business and re-named it Candy Kraft Candies.

“Most of her life was spent tending to the candy store,” her son said. “They built an apartment over the store and lived there so they could be on hand all the time.”

She sold the candy store in 1998.

In her spare time and after retirement, Mrs. Pratt enjoyed growing flowers, bird watching, and traveling.

Her son said she and her husband traveled all over the world, including to Hawaii, Alaska, along the Mediterranean, and to Germany, where both of her parents were born.

Mrs. Pratt was also very active in the Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church on Western Avenue.

She is survived by her son, Alton Durfee Jr., and his wife, Suzanne; her grandchildren, Denise Durfee, and Sonya Perillo, and her husband, Scott, and Darrell Durfee, and his wife, Rhonda; her nephew, Dwight Sickler, and his wife, Kathy; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Her husband, Loren Pratt, died before her, as did her son, Dennis Durfee, and her granddaughter, Stephanie Schmidt.

A memorial service will be held at the Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church, 2291 Western Ave., Guilderland, at 11 a.m. on May 8.

Memorial contributions may be made to the church.