Vera Nell Craft's Obituary
Funeral services for Vera Nell Craft, 86 of Leesville will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, June 22, 2015 at the Pine Hill Baptist Church with Rev. E. J. Bradshaw and Rev. Jimmy “Tri” Evans III officiating. The burial will follow in the Pine Hill Cemetery. Friends may visit Sunday, June 21st from 6 pm until 10 pm, then 8 am until time of service at the church Monday. Services are under the direction of the Labby Memorial Funeral Home in Leesville, Louisiana.
Vera Nell craft was born on the 20th day of August 1928 in Leesville, LA, the daughter of Percy and Minnie Westmoreland. She entered eternal rest on Saturday, June 20, 2015 at her residence in Leesville.
Vera Nell was a Christian who loved the Lord and was active serving Him through her church, Pine Hill Baptist Church for 60 years. She was church Treasurer forever and watched over the finances like a hawk watching a chicken.
She was much loved by her family and after Papa’s death in 2009 she became the family Matriarch continuing the Sunday tradition of that big Sunday dinner at her home. She absolutely loved this tradition, feeding up to 30 on any given Sunday with fabulous chuck roast, rice & grave, peas and all the other famous mama specialties. The family estimates, conservatively, that Mama baked over 4000 Buttermilk Pound Cakes in her time and cooked enough chicken spaghetti , her specialty dish, to fill half the church.
She was a legend in banking circles, working at the Vernon Bank for over 30 years and became the first women Vice President in the parish; setting a precedent for things to come.
Everything she did she did with perfection, always striving to please others and befriending and helping others when and where she could.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 61 years, Ira Craft; her brother Hubert Westmoreland; sisters Pauline, Dorothy & Charlene and also granddaughter Paula Dee Craft McDonald.
She will be sorely missed by her family, sons & daughter in laws; Jimmy and Sissie Craft and Bobby and Cathy Craft all of Leesville; daughter and son in law; Linda and Dale Behan of Ft Worth, TX; Grandsons, Jim and wife Robin Craft, Rob Craft, Chris and wife Ashlie Anderson, George and wife Brandy Craft, Crispin and wife Danielle Craft and Wm Dale and wife Kari Behan; granddaughters, Annalisa Anderson, Anslea Craft Dowden, Whitney and husband Justin Martin and Laura Davis; Great Grandchildren, Josh, Miranda, Alexa, Teighlor, Trevor, Lauren, Vanessa, Rylee, Carson, Jameson, Nicholas, Collins (to be born July 19th) Ross, Walker, Jackson, Henli, Jordan, Harli and Joei; Host of Nephews and nieces and so many lifelong friends that loved her.
The family wants to say a special thank you to Glenda Burns and Paula Larson for their nurturing caregiving, and ask that In Lieu of flowers, memorials donations may be made to Harbour Hospice or Pine Hill Church.
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