Comment
Print
Kathy Ann Kaade Craft of Rutherfordton passed away July 3, 2014.
She was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., on August 30, 1952, thirty-two minutes before her beloved identical twin sister, Kay Kaade Sheets. She grew up in Bluffton, Ind., and graduated from Indiana University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature.
She taught English at Chase High School for many years. She cherished her students and profoundly affected many of their lives by showing them the power of literature and ideas.
Her greatest love was her family. She loved fiercely, and to those she cared for, she was fiercely loyal.
She loved the written word in all its forms. She loved books, especially British mysteries, and enjoyed discussing them with her book club, family, and friends. She loved print journalism, and in her retirement spent hours poring over the newspaper, clipping articles to mail to her children. She continued to hand-write beautiful letters and thank you notes long after many had given them up in favor of email.
She loved to dance, and she loved music, especially Bruce Springsteen. She adored dogs, particularly her grandpups. She was an Anglophile; lover of pretty things, especially glassware and crystal; and baker of the best chocolate chip cookies ever.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Donald Paul Kaade and Julia Padgett Kaade. She is survived by her husband, Dick Craft, of the home; her children, Julia Wood and her husband, Todd Leskanic, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Elizabeth Wood and her husband, Jason Doukas, of Cornelius, N.C., Don Kaade and his wife, Ashley, of Denver, Colo., Blake Craft and his wife, Carla, of Seoul, South Korea, and Brooke Craft of Greer, S.C.; her grandchildren, Hannah Craft and Aysha Craft; her sister, Kay Kaade Sheets and her husband, Doug, of Rutherfordton; her brothers, Donald Padgett Kaade of Rutherfordton and Robert Paul Kaade and his wife, Judy, of Henderson, Nev.; and her nieces and nephews, Kathryn Sheets-Walker and her husband, Zach Walker, of Spindale, N.C., Nathan Sheets of Denver, Colo., Betsy Sheets Krigbaum and her husband, Josh, of Spindale, N.C., Jennifer Kaade Liversidge and her husband, Norm, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Rob Kaade and his wife, Robin, of Chicago, Ill.
A memorial service was held at Rutherfordton Presbyterian Church.
Memorials may be made to Planned Parenthood, www.plannedparenthood.org or 434 West 33rd St., New York, NY 10001; the ALS Association, www.alsa.org or 1275 K Street, NW, Suite 250, Washington, DC 20005; the Rutherfordton Presbyterian Church choir, 252 North Washington St., Rutherfordton, NC 28139; or Hospice of Rutherford County, 374 Hudlow Road, Forest City, NC 28043.
Crowe’s Mortuary is serving the family.
