Shelby Jean Craft

Shelby Jean Harlow Craft, 87, a resident for the last six years of the Salisbury Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, peacefully passed away there in her sleep in Room 121 at 6:30 am on January 30, 2025. 

She was born September 14, 1937 in Eagle Rock, Virginia, the first child of Palmer and Lucille Harlow. A graduate of Eagle Rock High School, at age eighteen, she married the late Allen Blair Craft. They had two children, the late David Allen Craft and the Rev. Dennis Brian Craft. 

Jean was a wondrous and unique dynamo of creativity and strength. Possessing a strong will and love of education, arts, and culture, she saw to it that her sons were college-educated and beyond, an opportunity that eluded her. As her husband's prospects and success grew, she had the resources to display her love of beauty and refinement. Though proud of her Appalachian roots, she endeavored to escape their limitations. She was an accomplished artist and musician. When young, she was a captivating beauty who loved tasteful society. She was proud of her membership in The Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She also enjoyed the Garden Club. There was a shadow that lingered deep in her, about which she remained silent, but she did her best to triumph over it by pure strength and will. A complex, mercurial, and reflective personality, she possessed deep wells of compassion and generosity. She will be remembered with love for her abundance of excellent talents and her myriad garlands of spirit. 

Surviving are her son, the Rev. Dennis Brian Craft (Kathleen Marie) and grandchild, Adara Darby Craft, both of Landis, NC. Her sisters also survive: Janice Newcomb, Helen Craft, and Bonnie Sue Brown (Calvin).

There will be a private interment of her cremains at the Eagle Rock Cemetery beside her beloved husband.