Carolyn Stevens Crutchfield

Carolyn was born in Society Hill, SC and spent her younger years living in various communities in North and South Carolina where her father served as a Baptist pastor. Carolyn was the youngest of four children. She loved to spend time with her father holding his horse as he visited parishioners and balancing on the beam he built with sawdust underneath as protection. She rang the church bell to mark the end of World War II.

Carolyn moved to Raleigh, NC at seventeen and, with only short gaps during her husband’s school and military service, made the city her home throughout her long life. Carolyn trained as a secretary at the historic Hardbarger Business College and worked at First Baptist Church on Salisbury Street as Pastoral Secretary. She was a faithful, supportive member of FBC, even after leaving her job there. She, with Graham, was an active member of the John Hiott Sunday School class for over sixty years. Carolyn was a dedicated volunteer on the Counter Committee, loved working with kindergarteners in Mission Friends, and delivered Meals-on-Wheels.

In 1955, Carolyn married Graham Crutchfield of Burlington, NC. Together they used their skill and dedication to hard work running his dental practice. Carolyn and Graham raised their four children, welcomed friends and family, and hosted gatherings in the house on Alleghany Drive where they made their home for fifty-four years.

Carolyn loved to care for the people in her circle. Her aging parents, neighbors, friends, siblings, nieces and nephews, extended family, bridge club, Lunch Bunch, and Happy Hookers (a group dedicated to doing needle crafts) were graciously welcomed with a glass of sweet tea, homemade snickerdoodle cookies, a jar of watermelon rind pickles, artfully arranged flowers from her garden, and thoughtfully prepared food served in collections of cut glass and pottery. Carolyn extended her curiosity and hospitality to strangers, finding out nuggets of their lives through conversation everywhere she went. She smiled easily and loved gently all those who were fortunate enough to meet her.

Carolyn played the piano, sang as she worked, and was an accomplished seamstress and quilter. She enjoyed sharing her skills with others and did so working at

Bernina World of Sewing, alongside dear friends. Carolyn wrote notes to stay connected. She studied maps and never failed to ask the route used to get somewhere by those she met. She was playful and funny.

Carolyn’s children and grandchildren were treasured through favored foods – often served all at once at the holiday banquet. She carved out time to introduce children in her care to art performances and displays in the city she loved. She enjoyed staying active and being adventurous. She loved animals, especially her beloved Cocker Spaniel. As a child, it was said, she coaxed a “Dominicker” chicken to lay eggs. Carolyn loved the ocean and the mountains in equal measure; watching sunsets on Topsail Beach and sitting on a ridge overlooking the New River brought space to gather, linger, and watch birds in flight.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her husband, William Graham Crutchfield; daughter Joy Crutchfield Hager; parents Rev. Charles E. Stevens and Pearl Hudson Stevens; siblings Alda Truett Whipple, Charles Stevens, and Raymond Stevens.

Carolyn is survived by her loving family.  This family includes her children Amy Martin (Tom), William Crutchfield, John Burton-Crutchfield (Wanda), and son-in-law Wayne Hager (Karen); grandchildren Matthew Hager (Alli Mae), Hannah M. Owens (Mike), Nathan Hager (Mary), Kristin M. McClure (Bradley), Laura Hager-Smith (Cody), and Owen Burton-Crutchfield; and great-grandchildren Adalee Smith, Salem Smith, Quincy McClure, Judah McClure, Jaiden Smith, Leena Owens, and Jovie Mae Hager-Carnes.  Family also meant her siblings and siblings-in-law, their spouses, their children and their children’s children; so many friends; as well as the nurses, special caregivers, and neighbors in the Ivie Clayton wing at Springmoor.  Though it is difficult, we release Carolyn while holding close the ways she nurtured us to be kind, loving people.

A celebration of Carolyn’s life will occur in the Auditorium of Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community, 1500 Sawmill Road, Raleigh, NC 27615 on Friday, July 17, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. with a reception to follow in the Great Room.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts in her memory be made to The New River Conservancy, www.newriverconservancy.org, PO Box 1480, West Jefferson, NC 28694; Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, www.foodshuttle.org, 1001 Blair Drive, Unit 120, Raleigh, NC 27603; or the Housing All Fund of First Baptist Church of Raleigh, 99 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603, www.fbcraleigh.org.

Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh is serving the Crutchfield family