Hope Craven

1917--2016

Hope was born at home on January 5, 1917, the eldest of four children to the Rev. Theodore Bacheler and Belle Dart Bacheler in New Haven, Connecticut. Hope’s father was a chaplain in both the First and Second World Wars and a Congregational Minister until the time of his death in 1968. Hope was a lifelong Christian. She graduated from Mt. Holyoke College with a degree in Economics and went into the U.S. Navy as a Wave. She met her first husband, Lt. Comdr. Robert Bruce Miller, at Snow Inn in Harwichport, where they were on leave. They were married by Hope’s father in 1943. They had two sons Thomas and John. After WW II Hope and Bruce moved to Swarthmore, PA. Bruce was an executive at INA when he passed away of a heart attack on December 25, 1952. In 1959 Hope married Charles Francis Craven; he died in 1969. Hope went to work for the Chester Municipal Authority in Chester, PA, as an executive assistant from 1960 to 1987.

In the spring of 1953, Hope purchased a summer cottage in South Chatham which was made into a year-round home in 1992 where she spent the rest of her life. She loved watching the Nantucket Sound which as she would often say is different every day. She loved shore and land birds that feed just outside her window. She had dogs all her life including English Springer Spaniels, but her great loves were her last two Corgis, Irene and Caleb, whom she dreamed of and heard their little feet ever since they passed on.

Hope had her sons John and Thomas Miller at her bedside at her home in South Chatham on November 30th, 2016, before her death. She is survived by her sons, her sister Cynthia Babbitt, her daughter-in-law Sara T. Miller, two grandchildren Isabel and Thomas V, and one great grandson Max.

We wish to thank Hope Hospice and all the caring people who helped us take care of her these last two years at home. Her Memorial Service will be in May, 2017, at the South Dennis Congregational Church AKA The Sea Captains Church. The date and time of the service will be announced. Burial will be prior to that in the South Chatham Cemetery. Mom always appreciated flowers so give yourselves some in her name. Contributions may be made to The American Heart Fund Association.

For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com.