Craven, Juddie

CONCORD Sarah Judson McKinley Craven of The Gardens of Taylor Glen passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 19, at First Presbyterian Church in Concord with the Rev. Peter Bynum officiating. A reception for family and friends will follow the service in the Fellowship Hall. Burial will be private. Mrs. Craven was a lifelong resident of Cabarrus County. She was born Feb. 8, 1922, to the late William Charles McKinley and Mary Gilmer Faggart McKinley. She graduated from J.W. Cannon High School in Kannapolis and from Queens College in Charlotte. She was employed in the office of Cannon Mills for 21 years. Affectionately known as Juddie, she was an avid golfer, winning the Ladies' Championship Golf Tournament numerous times at the Cabarrus Country Club. In 1960, she was the first woman to make a hole in one at the Boone Golf Course. Juddie also enjoyed playing tennis, bridge, and traveling. She and her husband, Dr. Fred Craven, enjoyed many trips during their 24 years of marriage, almost taking them around the world. Juddie was a charter member of the International Pilot Club of Kannapolis; a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church, a member of the Blanche Stewart Sunday School Class, the Lunch Bunch; the Floral Club, the Luncheon Club and Study Club of Concord; the Coy C. Carpenter Society of Wake Forest University of Medicine; and the CMC Northeast Medical Society. A woman of strong faith, Juddie loved her church and community, and her family and friends, but most of all she loved her Lord. She cared so much for other people all of her life, making contributions to many charitable organizations throughout the state, providing a better way of life for people of all ages. Juddie was predeceased by her first husband, E. Grey Bost in 1969, and her second husband, Dr. Fred T. Craven in 2004. She was also preceded in death by five sisters, Grace Matthews, Lillian Strickland, Mary Willer, Alice Brown, and Jennie Reyn Wiley; and four brothers, Charles, Everette, Bill and Gip McKinley. Left to cherish her memory are her stepchildren, Thorns Craven (Perry) of Winston-Salem, Lineta Pritchard (Bill) of Myrtle Beach, S.C., Edith Propst (Wilson) and Allen Craven (Janet) of Concord; and 7 stepgrandchildren. She also leaves nephews and nieces, Ed Willer (Cornelia) of Raleigh, Henry Wiley (Betty) of Kannapolis, Mary Lillian Pass (Gerald) of Winston-Salem, Jim McKinley of Supply, Everette McKinley (Mary Nell) of Hampstead, Peggy Smith of Southern Pines, Nancy Brodie (Bob) of Anchorage, Alaska, Tommy Matthews (Georgia) and Sydney Brown of Kannapolis, Joyce Upright (Eugene) of Columbia, S.C., Patti Dill (George) and Anne Lovoy (Mike) of Morehead City, and Kathy Conn (Eric) of Chattanooga, Tenn; as well as numerous great and great-great-nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 70 Union Street N. Concord, NC 28025; Boys and Girls Club of Cabarrus County, 247 Spring St. NW, Concord, NC 28025; or to the charity of your choice. Online condolences may be left at www.wilkinsonfuneralhome.com. Wilkinson Funeral Home is handling arrangements for the Craven family.