Anne Raper

1938 - 2012

ANNE C. RAPER

FAYETTEVILLE - Anne Burgin Craig Raper was born on October 25, 1938, in Asheville and died at home on October 19, 2012, of cancer at the age of 73.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Locke Craig, Jr. and Alice Monteiro Whitted Craig, of Pinehurst; her grandparents, Governor Locke and Annie Burgin Craig, of Asheville, and Lloyd Nash and Alice Monteiro Blow Whitted of Fayetteville; and her nephew, Michael Craig Diaz of Atlanta, Ga.

The daughter of a forester, Anne spent the first 23 years of her life moving with her father's work to Georgetown and Camden, S.C.; Belem, Brazil; Asheville; the Goodyear Plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia; and Campinas, Brazil. She attended school at La Chatelaine in Saint-Blaise, Switzerland, Salem College and Woman's College in Greensboro before moving to New York City to work for a year while her future husband finished law school at the NYU School of Law.

In 1961 she married John Elisha Raper, Jr., and they moved to Fayetteville where she was involved in the Junior Service League and its successor the Junior League and its Sustainers Book Club, and in the Colonial Dames, twice serving as the Chairman of the Cumberland County committee and most recently as State Chairman of County Committees. She was an active member of Hay Street United Methodist Church, serving as co-chairman of the Parlor and Altar Guild Committees, and as a member of its Board of Stewards. She had an exceptional gift for hospitality and took great pleasure in welcoming people from all walks of life who came to Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

She enthusiastically supported her children's activities and school events and is still remembered by former Terry Sanford High School students for her hot dogs, chili and mini-pizzas after each Homecoming game while her children were in high school. When her last child headed for college, she embarked on a new business career as a real estate broker, for the last 23 years with Townsend Real Estate.

She is survived by her husband, John Elisha Raper, Jr.; her daughter, Sarah Raper Larenaudie and husband, Antoine, of Paris, France; her daughter, Anne Raper Cooper and husband, David, of Raleigh; her son, Locke Craig Raper of New York, N.Y.; her grandchildren, Matthieu Axel Larenaudie, Alix Monteiro Larenaudie, and Blanche Montbel Larenaudie of Paris, France, and Sarah Elizabeth Cooper, Anne Hope Cooper, and Laura Grace Cooper of Raleigh; her sisters, Alice Monteiro Craig of Southern Pines, and Nancy Craig Diaz and husband, David, of Atlanta, Ga.; her nephew, Christopher Hammond Diaz of Denver, Colo.; her sister-in-law, Johanna Raper Herring and husband, Donald, of Fayetteville and Crawfordsville, Ind.; her nephew, Paul Edgerton Herring of Chesapeake, Va.; niece, Johanna Herring Curl of Longview, Texas; and Baxu Raper, her beloved dachshund.

The family will receive visitors at home on Wednesday, October 24, 2012. A memorial service will be held at Hay Street United Methodist Church in downtown Fayetteville on Thursday, October 25, 2012, at noon. A reception will follow in the church fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hay Street United Methodist Church or to a fund being established in her memory at the Cumberland Community Foundation. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Sullivan's Highland Funeral Home in Fayetteville.