Obituaries 12 February 2023

Suzanne 'Suzie' F. Craft, 81

New Hampton Tribune and Nashua Reporter - Staff Photo - Create Article

Suzanne “Suzie” F. Craft, age 81 of New Hampton, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at her home with her family by her side.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at Conway-Markham Funeral Home in New Hampton, with Pastor Dong Shin officiating.

Burial will be at New Hampton Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Conway-Markham Funeral Home in New Hampton and will continue at the funeral home one hour prior to the funeral services on Thursday.

Online condolences may be left at www.conwaymarkham.com.  Memorials may be directed to the family.

Suzanne Fay was born Nov. 24, 1941, the daughter of Jesse and Viola (Rogers) Thompson in Waterloo. 

She attended and graduated from Cedar Falls High School. 

After graduating, Susie worked as a bartender as she received her education as a CNA/CMA. 

On Dec. 26, 1961, Susie was united in marriage to Walter Craft in Waterloo. The couple welcomed their four children — Dawn, Mary Lynn, Randy and Stacey.

They eventually made their home in New Hampton as Walter accepted a position with New Hampton Police Department. While living in New Hampton, Susie received her EMT training and worked for Chickasaw County Ambulance prior to working for Hospice of Northeast Iowa in Charles City. After retiring from Hospice, Susie worked private care.  Later in life, she enjoyed working for Kwik Star in New Hampton.

Throughout the years, Susie was active in Tae Kwon Do with her daughter, Stacey, and many of her grandchildren.  She proudly achieved her 4th degree black belt at the age of 74. 

Susie also enjoyed making pies and competed at the Nashua Big 4 Fair with them, winning best lard crust pie.  Susie’s pride and joy were her grandchildren. 

She was there to not only enjoy but cheer them on in all of their activities.

Those left to cherish her memories are her children, Dawn (Rick) Larson of New Hampton, Mary Lynn Bond-Meyer (Calvin Meyer) of Nashua, Randy (Debbie) Craft of Rolfe, and Stacey (Jackie) Bendickson of Nashua; her siblings, Linda Jones of Sumner, and Sandy (Dave) Jaschen of New Hampton; her grandchildren, Nick (Erica) Schmitt, Justin (Carrie) Schmitt, Beau (Courtney) Martin, Tyler Eckerman, Alyssa Andrade, Ben (Trisha) Martin, Heather (Anthony) Schmitt, Cassidy (Andy) Thein, Jesse (Hannah) Bendickson, Brady (Shelby) Bond, and Brittany (Michael) Bendickson; 30 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings, Roger, Gary and Kay in infancy; sister-in-law (her best friend) Jane Thompson; her great-grandson, Jacob; brother-in-law, Leo “Jim” Jones; nephews, Sitman Thompson, Chris Jones, Andy Jones; and niece, Julie Jones.

Thank you for reading!

To read the full version of all available articles, you must be a subscriber to the New Hampton Tribune's website. To become a subscriber, please click here to be taken to our subscription page. If you already are a subscriber, please click here to login to the site and continue reading. Thank you.