Obituaries : Alberta Bernice Craft

Alberta Bernice Craft

VINTON: Alberta Bernice Craft, 89, of Vinton, died Friday, March 15, 2013, at Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Amana following a lengthy illness. Funeral Services will be held 11 AM, Monday, March 18, 2013 at Blessed Hope Church in Vinton with Pastor Jim Blair officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to service time at the church on Monday. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton. Memorials may be directed to Blessed Hope Church. Phillips Funeral Home in Vinton is in charge of arrangements.

She was born January 1, 1924, to Arthur and Josie Martin in Kirksville, Missouri. On June 29, 1948, she married Olaf E. Craft who was attending the Kirksville College of Osteopathy in Kirksville. They were married in Lancaster, Missouri. After his graduation, they moved to Portland, Maine, for his internship, and then to Vinton, Iowa, in September 1951 where they resided until Olaf’s passing in 2007.

“Bert” was a homemaker her entire life. She loved the Lord and was very active in her church, in women’s Bible studies, and in offering hope and encouragement to those facing cancer. She was also an avid seamstress and loved sewing for her daughters.

To the marriage was born four daughters: Patricia JoAnn, Cheryl Sue, Bette Jean, and Alecia Rae.

In Bert’s later years, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and spent the last nine years of her life in a nursing home after it became impossible for her to remain at home.

She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law Cheryl and Don Hastings of Owasso, Oklahoma; Bette and Bill Davis of Liberty, Missouri; and Alecia and Doug Williams of Oxford, Iowa; grandchildren Kara Hastings Culp, and Ben Hastings and wife Kim of Oklahoma, Holly Hastings of Texas, and Matthew Joel Hastings and wife Bethany of Virginia; Jenny Davis Voth and husband Matthew, and Luke Davis and wife Ellen of Arkansas; Samantha Williams and Jonathan Williams of Iowa; and five great grandchildren, Carolina Culp; Ella, Hadassah, and Silas Voth, and True Davis. Her husband, Olaf Eugene, daughter Patricia JoAnn, her parents, two brothers, and three sisters preceded her in death.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at: www.phillipsfuneralhomes.com.