Margery Craven

Margery C. Craven passed away on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at her home in Ellicott City, Maryland. Born Margery Anne Cochran in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 6, 1934, she spent her girlhood with her mom and sister, Dorothy. Since Marge’s dad died in 1940 when she was six, they lived at times with her maternal grandparents, Vallance and Henry Lawrence Ley, and with her mother’s sister, Jean Gormly and her husband, Bill. After Marge and Edwin Craven were married in 1953, they moved to Wheeling, West Virginia. The remainder of her life was spent in Maryland in Baltimore City, then Baltimore County, and finally, in Howard County.

She loved beauty in all forms. She sang soprano in various church choirs, most notably with The Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter in Govans where she sang for over thirty years. Her relationship with music and being a domestic goddess permeated though her years even as she devoted energy to earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She taught high school Social Studies for many years in the Baltimore County Public Schools. In retirement, she became active with the League of Women Voters and was a Maryland Citizen of the Year during the 1990s.

Marge and Ed Craven were married for nearly 61 years until Ed’s death in 2014. She was the loving mother of Amy Craven (Rob Kincaid), Janet Craven (the late Kenny Bellin), and Laura Craven (Montgomery Young); and a devoted grandmother to Tristan and Harrison Young. She was fond of all her nieces and nephews and had a special connection with Dan (Shelly) and Bill (Marge) Buffington.

Margery was predeceased by her father and mother, John Nelson Cochran and Margaret Elizabeth Ley Cochran, nephew Christopher Buffington, son-in-law Kenny Bellin, husband Edwin James Craven, and sister Dorothy Condon.

A memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1609 Kurtz Avenue, Lutherville, Maryland, on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the League of Women Voters.