Nancy K. Craig

Nancy Klinke Craig, a former Scarsdale resident of 39 years, died April 18, 2017, at White Plains Hospital. The cause of death was complications linked to radiation treatment she received as a cancer patient in the 1980s.

Mrs. Craig was born July 5, 1938, in Madison Wisconsin to parents Maurice Klinke and Gertrude (Strohbusch) Klinke.

Mrs. Craig was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Education. Shortly after graduation, she moved east to Cambridge, Mass., where she studied at Harvard/Radcliffe, then taught high-school level English in Newtown, Mass. (as a tenured teacher) and also in Great Neck, NY.

Mrs. Craig and her husband Douglas moved from New York to Westchester in 1967, where they started a family in Bronxville, NY, before moving to Scarsdale in 1976. During their early years in Westchester, Mrs. Craig split her time between raising two young boys and serving in a variety of organizations, including the Bronxville League for Service, The Westchester League of Women Voters (where she served as chairman) and the New Choral Society. In her later years, she volunteered at the Scarsdale Adult School and was a member of the board.

After her children completed high school, Mrs. Craig initiated a new career in the area of fundraising and development. She worked as a special projects assistant for then former-US Attorney for the Southern District of NY, Whitney North Seymour, Jr., and then for The Lighthouse: New York Association for the Blind. Later in her development career, she served as Vice President of Planned Parenthood of New York City, and finally Vice President of Lenox Hill Hospital, where she worked for 15 years before her retirement.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Craig was a proficient writer, both in her professional and personal pursuits. Upon her retirement, she authored three books of poetry, and was in the process of penning a novel at the time of her death. In addition to writing, her past times included cross-country skiing, golf and tennis, which she enjoyed with her husband at their summer home in New Harbor, Maine, where Nancy served on several committees of the Long Cove Point Association social and tennis club.

Among her many interests, Mrs. Craig had a lifelong passion for song, which included voice lessons as a young girl in Madison, singing in her church choir, and participating in local musicals. She parleyed these interests into an unwavering devotion to The Metropolitan Opera, where she and her husband were committed patrons for nearly two decades.

Mrs. Craig is survived by her husband of 51 years; her son Thomas Craig and his wife Shannon; her son Timothy Craig and his wife Christine; five grandchildren: Julien Craig, Sophia Craig, Nicolas Craig, Isla Craig, and Olive Lassen; her sister Lois Offerdhal and husband Tom; her sister Pat Norfolk and husband Dick; her brother Jim Klinke and wife Marsha; 12 nieces and nephews; 30 grandnieces and grandnephews; and numerous others.

On Sunday April 23, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, family and friends are invited to remember her at Edwin L. Bennett Funeral Homes at 824 Scarsdale Road, Scarsdale, NY (914) 725-1137

On Monday April 24 at 11:00 am, a funeral service will be held at Greenville Community Church at 270 Ardsley Road, Scarsdale, NY. (914) 723-1266.

In lieu of flowers donation may be made to the Scarsdale Adult School P.O. Box 205 Scarsdale, NY 10583 or the Greenville Community Church 270 Ardsley Road Scarsdale NY 10583 in Mrs. Craig's name preferred.