Mattielee Craven

Mrs. Mattielee Carter Craven, 82, of Smoaks, SC, passed away at Roper Hospital in Charleston on December 30, 2010, surrounded by her loving family, after battling a brief illness.



Funeral services will be held four oclock Sunday afternoon at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chapel on Dandridge Road in Walterboro, with the President Leon Bryan presiding. Burial will follow at Green Pond United Methodist Church on Augusta Highway.



She was born November 22, 1928 in Sumter, SC, to the late Herbert Carter and Jessie Carter. The family moved to the Canadys area after Herbert was killed in a car accident. Mattielee, one of six children, was dedicated to her siblings. They all learned to rely on and care for each other. In 1942, Mattielee graduated from Walterboro High School and then received a degree from Rice Business School in Charleston. She wed Lewis D. LD Craven on March 5, 1949 and they spent their married life in Smoaks. Mattielee had two children, whom she adored. She said that getting older didnt bother her, because her children and grandchildren got better each year. Her loved ones were her life and she reveled in them. She was a loving and dedicated sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She retired from the Farm Services, ASCS office and also assisted in running the family business, Cravens Grocery, later Cravens Feed and Seed.



She was very active and beloved in her community. She loved to sing and was a strong supporter of Alzheimers research because of her familys illness. She had two strong church families one in Green Pond United Methodist Church, where she was a member for over 40 years and the other at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to which she had been a member for the past two years.



Surviving are her two children, Herbert O. Buddy Craven and wife Jan; Gayle C. Bryan and husband Leon, all of Smoaks, SC; three brothers, Ray Carter of Huntsville, AL; Dean Carter and Fred Carter, both of Walterboro; grandchildren, Christy Robinson of Smoaks; Latai Osborn of Walterboro; Cynthia Howard and husband Isaac of Ft. Stewart, GA; Tee Cain of Summerville; and great grandchildren, Krystina Robinson, Liam Turner, Jacob and Nathan Cain, Ethan Osborn, and Noel and Taylor Howard; and her nephew Theodore Kohl and his wife Laura of Augusta, GA.



In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis D. Craven; sister, Betty Lou Kohl; brother, Lester Carter; and her granddaughter, Melissa Craven Turner.



The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Alzheimers Foundation.



For those that so desire, memorial messages and thoughts of condolence as well as memories of Mattielee may be shared with the Craven family by visiting: www.briceherndonfuneralhomes.com.



Visitation will be held Saturday evening, from six until eight oclock at THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES, WALTERBORO CHAPEL, 1193 Bells Highway, Walterboro, 843.538.5408.

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