Joyce W Craig

Joyce W. Craig, 92, formerly of Veedersburg, passed away 12:53 AM Monday April 10, 2017 at Rosewalk Village in Lafayette, Indiana, surrounded by family. Joyce was born June 10, 1924 in Silsbee, Texas the daughter of Henry C. and Mary Ann Elliott (Smith) Wiggins. She married Wesley R. Craig June 11, 1946 in Port Neches, Texas; he preceded her in death January 9, 2012. She is also preceded in death by two sisters, Henry Etta Bice and Willie Dee Bass. Surviving family include two daughters, Laurie (R.G.) Phillips, Earl Park, IN; Lejuana (Rick) Ragsdale, Crawfordsville, IN; two grandsons, Craig Summers and KC Phillips; and two great-granddaughters, Stephanie and Jocelyn Summers. Joyce graduated from Kountze High School, Kountze, Texas in 1941. She attended the College of Marshall in Marshall, Texas, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Northwestern Louisiana University in Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1945. During the years immediately following WWII, she taught at the base school on Ft. Bliss, Texas. Joyce taught the children of the German scientists who developed our space program. For this work, she received the Valley Forge Freedom Foundation Award, of which she was very proud. Later, she was a High School Language Teacher of both English and Spanish at Veedersburg, Fountain Central, and Covington. During her tenure at Veedersburg High School, she began the school library, doing the duties of the librarian for half the day and teaching English the other half. She later instituted the elementary Spanish program, visiting the 3 elementary schools one day a week to teach Spanish to the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. At Fountain Central, she sponsored various classes and the Sunshine Society club. She was among the first to use computers in the classroom at Covington and wrote curriculum to support that usage. Joyce enjoyed teaching so much, that after her retirement in 1982, she tutored students in Texas who were immigrants and had very little English knowledge. She always had time for former students who needed guidance with college papers, or life in general. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, honorary teaching society, and Business & Professional Women’s Club. A memorial service will be held at the Crawfordsville Public Library on Sunday, July 2, 2017. Visitation will begin at 1:00 PM with a service to begin at 3:00 PM. Memorial Contributions may be given to the Veedersburg Public Library and Alzheimer's Foundation of America.