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Obituaries
Shirley Ann Work Craft
Date of Death or Service Apr 14, 2017
Shirley Ann Work Craft
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 Shirley Ann Work Craft died on Good Friday, April 14, 2017, of cancer at NHC Healthcare, Dickson, Tennessee. She was born at her Murphy grandparents’ farm on Murrell Road in Dickson County on December 20, 1941. Grab Creek was too high that night to be forded by car. Dr. L. C. Jackson had to be brought by a mule team and wagon and at 5:40 in the morning, Shirley was born by the light of a coal oil lamp. Her parents were the late Freddie Lee Work and Ora Christine Murphy Work; her grandparents were Robert Clayton Work and Ova Lee Murrell Work and William Robert Murphy and Nellie Emeline Baker Murphy, all of Dickson.

Shirley spent her early years in Dickson, Nashville, and Detroit. In her teens she moved to Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Immaculate Conception High School, Seattle, in the Class of 1960, she entered the Dominican Order in Edmonds, Washington, where she spent three years as a novitiate. She later lived in Nashville, Tennessee where she was a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard. It was there that she met her husband, Roy Willis Craft, Sr., who predeceased her. After his death, she spent many years in Seattle and recently moved to Dickson. She was a long time employee of the Veterans Administration and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

She is survived by her foster mother, Maryhelen Sinclair and foster siblings, Collene Sinclair-Lynch, Leanne Sinclair-Bergford, Edward Sinclair, Jim Sinclair, Jeanmarie Sinclair-Huffty; Michele Sinclair-Butcher, Bob Sinclair, Mark Sinclair, Renee Sinclair, and Joe Sinclair, all of the Seattle area. Her foster father, Lee E. Sinclair, predeceased her.

Additional survivors are her brother, William Randall Work, Renton, Washington, and his children, William Randall Work, Jr., of London, England; Stephen James Work, of Chico, California, Tracy Jean (Work) Bowen, of Snohomish, Washington, and Daniel Allen Work, Renton.

She is also survived by her step-children: Roy W. Craft, Jr., Melissa Craft, and Donald Wayne Craft, all of Nashville. She was predeceased by a step-daughter, Deborah Craft.

Other family members are cousins Carter Greenlaw Baker, Nashville, Tennessee; Ailsie Baker McEnteggart, Chico, California; and Georgia Lowell Baker, Dickson, who have known her since childhood. Additionally, she will be remembered by her high school classmate, Carmen Alcid Douglas, Tukwila, Washington; and her long-time friends, Monsignor Robert J. Hofstetter, Newport, Tennessee; Regina Clifton Cathey, Dickson; and Jeanie Hale, Rockvale, Tennessee.

Shirley’s family would like to thank the staffs at TriStar Horizon Medical Center and NHC Healthcare for their thoughtful care during her last days. A funeral mass will be conducted at a later date. Her ashes will be laid to rest beside her late husband at the Weems Cemetery on Baker Road where generations of her Murphy, Baker, Dunnagan, Murrell, and Horner relatives are also buried.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Christopher’s Catholic Church, 713 W. College St., Dickson, TN 37055, or the charity of your choice.

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