Virginia Elizabeth “Betty” Craver, 100, passed away Feb. 15, 2022. She was born July 17, 1921, in Bement, Illinois, to Clyde and Rose (Overand) Hill.
Betty attended the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1944 before she married Perry P. Craver Sr. in 1945. They were married for 71 years until his passing in 2016. Her calling was to be a mom, which she did raising her family of five children in Laconia, New Hampshire. In the 1970s, Betty received Orton Gillingham training from Mass General Hospital. She became a reading tutor for children with dyslexia.
Betty was a strong, determined woman with a generous heart. She was a mom who devoted her life to supporting family, friends and her community. The Lakes Region YMCA awarded Betty the Layperson of the Year at its 28th annual meeting. She had a caring, positive attitude and was very helpful. While residing in Laconia for 30 years, Betty served as a co-chair for Laconia’s bicentennial celebration, volunteered for the Red Cross and was elected to be supervisor of the checklist for the city. In 1983, Perry and Betty moved to Kennebunk, where Betty continued to volunteer for the Red Cross, and she became a docent for the Kennebunkport Bush Museum.
Betty enjoyed playing bridge and golf. She had been a member of the Laconia Country Club and became a member of the Webhannet Ladies Golf Association in Kennebunk. She was an active member of the Kennebunkport Seacoast Garden Club, tending to seasonal community gardens. Perry and Betty attended the Kennebunkport Congregational Church where Betty knitted shawls for the elderly. Having played the trumpet in a marching band and the piano, Mom loved to listen all day long to classical jazz, classical music and big band tunes on her kitchen radio followed by the iPad and then Alexa.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 71 years, Perry P. Craver Sr.; her brother, William Hill; grandson, Timothy M. Craver; and son-in-law, Robert Wilkinson. She is survived by her children, Marjory Wilkinson of Laconia, Perry P. Craver Jr. and his wife Peggy of Laconia, William Craver and his wife Basia of Henniker, New Hampshire, Sarah Gurry and her husband Chris of Wells, and James Craver and his wife Karen of Gilford, New Hampshire; 14 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
“Flowers in the field bow their blooms with awe in the presence of a mother. She is nature’s blessing to all.”
– Unknown author
Donations may be made in Betty’s name to Northern Light Home Care and Hospice, 50 Foden Road, South Portland, ME 04106 or to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, P.O. BOX 14380, Washington, D.C. 20044.
A service for the celebration of Mom’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on July 17, 2022, in Dudley, Massachusetts, at the Perryville Family Cemetery.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Betty’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.
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