Margaret Louise Minteer Craft died on Nov. 9, 2018, at her home in Spartanburg, S.C., across the street from her beloved daughter, Marcia, who with her husband, Holt, welcomed and cared for her there with generous hearts.

She was born on April 18, 1926, to Hilda and Victor Minteer, the first of their two children, followed by her sister, Jane Minteer Flick. They grew up in New Wilmington, Pa., upheld by the kindness and high spirits of family from town, from Pittsburgh, and places far away.

A bright student, Margaret graduated from New Wilmington High School a year early and began her college studies at Westminster, transferring to Penn State for her final two years. There, on long rides home during holiday breaks, she met a Sharon, Pa., student named Harry Craft, who had just returned to State College after his combat service in World War II in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Harry, who had navigated a B-24 Liberator during the war, was assigned the job of perching on the car bumper to guide them through the fog on drives back to western Pennsylvania. They married at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church on September 6, 1947, with the combined families in attendance at the sanctuary and in the reception in the Minteer orchard and backyard.

Harry's appointment with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service took them to Greensburg, Pa., where Margaret worked at a radio station until their first child, William, was born in 1951. Margaret and Harry returned to New Wilmington when Harry accepted a position with Hunter and Minteer Construction, and their family grew to include three more children: Marcia, David, and Elizabeth - all four raised at 245 Francis on a lot that had once belonged to Margaret's grandparents, Curtis and Leila Minteer.

Margaret Craft loved her family with a fierce devotion that defined her life and theirs. Like her, her home was bright, beautiful and welcoming to guests, including her sister Jane's children and cherished friends who sustained and enlivened her all her days. She loved reading for herself and to her children, singing in the church choir, and family vacations from Maine to Colorado.

After her children were all in school, Margaret returned to school herself, earning first her elementary education certification and then a master's in education, both at Westminster. At a time when women's professional lives were often discouraged, she launched her 30-year career as a fourth-grade teacher in New Wilmington, first at the school on Vine Street and then at the school on Wood. She taught with the imagination, discipline and naturalness of one who had found her vocation, changing the lives of students in her radiant presence. In the midst of her teaching, grandchildren began appearing, nine in all, each of whom quickly found that there was no place better to be than at Gramma's house, especially at Christmas, when, bundled all together they were treated to food, presents, and endless affection.

As her children grew older, Margaret rejoiced in the annual pilgrimage to Topsail Beach in North Carolina, where she insisted in staying in places with a table big enough for everyone to have supper together, and to sing, talk and laugh the evenings away as the waves rolled in. Every one of her grandchildren grew up with her and with each other, cousins more like siblings, everyone knowing that she had loved their widespread families into one.

Following the death of her husband, Harry, in 2013, Margaret launched a new adventure, leaving her dear New Wilmington to live in South Carolina near her daughter Marcia, throwing herself into the life of her church and community there: worship, study, exercise, and the joy of listening to the music that Marcia and her husband Holt lead at church. She missed Harry wildly, even as she rejoiced in the lives of her sons and daughters, and their children and grandchildren. Ever younger than her years, always unassuming but determined, she taught her family, her students, and her friends what beauty is, what courage looks like, what it is to be loved.

Dying before Margaret were her dearly beloved husband Harry; her parents, Victor and Hilda; her great-grandson Brendan Numedahl; and a host of relatives and friends now with the communion of saints.

Continuing in this life are her sister, Jane Flick; her children, William (Anne) Craft, Marcia (Holt) Andrews, David (Nancy) Craft and Betsy (Matthew) Wooster; her grandchildren, Joshua (Elizabeth) Craft, Meg (Perry) Numedahl, Carrie Andrews, Rafe Andrews, James Rogers, Rachel Craft, Samuel Rogers, Jessie Craft and Nathan Craft; and her great-grandchildren, Anna Craft, Liam Numedahl, John Minteer Craft, Josie Numedahl and Mya Numedahl.

Calling hours will be on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Smith Funeral Home, 310 W Neshannock Ave., New Wilmington, Pa. The funeral service will be on Friday, Nov. 16, at 10 a.m. at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, 229 S. Market St., in New Wilmington. The family will receive friends at the church on Friday at 9 a.m. before the service.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church and Westminster College.