Virginia Wade Craven passed away at Flowers Hospital in Dothan, AL, on January 1, 2011. She was born February 19, 1933, in Milton, FL, to James Pilcher Wade and Ellye Virginia Watford Wade. She grew up in Marianna, FL, and graduated from high school there at the age of 16. Her interest in and love of the medical field led her to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta where in 1953, she received her R.N. degree. Because she had graduated from nursing school at age nineteen, she had to receive special permission to take the State Board Exam , which she passed, and was awarded her license. She then attended Duke University where she attained certification as a nurse anesthetist. She worked in that capacity at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC; at Sacred Heart Hospital and Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL; and at The Medical Center in Columbus, GA.

In 1963 she married Dr. James B. Craven of Chipley and they began their married life in DeFuniak Springs, FL. While there, she continued her work in anesthesia in Fort Walton Beach and in Niceville. They moved to Chipley in 1964 and during the next several years she worked at the Washington County Hospital in Chipley and at Bay Memorial Hospital in Panama City. In 1983 she received her master's degree in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She taught nursing at the Washington-Holmes Area Vocational Technical School for several years and later was Director of Nursing at the Northwest Florida Community Hospital at Chipley.

As an avid gardener, she was a member of the Chipley Garden Club and met the requirements and achieved the coveted status of Master Gardener. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Chipley.

She is predeceased by her parents and a brother, Jim Wade. Survivors include her husband of 47 years, Dr. James Craven; her son Dr. Ben Craven, his wife Cynthia, and their children Emily, Trey, and Lauren, all of Dothan; her sister-in-law Nadine Wade of Marianna; special relatives Leola and Billy Brock, Bobby Craven, Margaret Miner, and Kathy Rudd all of Chipley.

Graveside services will be held at Glenwood Cemetery in Chipley at 10 A.M. Tuesday, January 4, 2011. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in her memory to the American Heart Association, Greater Southeast Affiliate, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692, Phone: (800) 242-8721.