Gean Craig

Heaven just got a lot more interesting - Gean Craig hung up her tennis racket and kicked off her cowboy boots on March 21, 2025 in Denton, Texas, and you better believe she is already giving the angels a lesson on their backhand and their two-step.
Elsie Virgean Craig - known as Gean to her friends, Nana to her family, and Coach to so many- was born on December 29, 1931 to Virgil and Elsie Dyer Fields in Paducah, Texas. She is preceded in death by her parents and sisters, Nadene Lyles and Nell Judd. She is survived by her sisters and brother, Eva Hopping, John Fields, Ann Colburn, and Paula Hogue, as well as her children, Kevin Craig and Kim Craig Wilkins, her grandchildren, James Wilkins, Jessica Walling, Jenna Thornton, Joshua Craig, and Moxie Robinson, and her great grandchildren, Case Thornton and Emerson Thornton.
Gean was the second of seven children, raised on a cotton farm in the Texas panhandle. She spent her younger days picking cotton and working the farm, preferring to spend her time outdoors. After high school, she pursued her teaching degree, graduating from West Texas State College in 1954.
Gean began her career as a tennis coach at Dumas High School. She spent decades whipping players into shape, teaching them to be tough on and off the court. She was recognized as one of the greats when she was named the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame "Tennis Coach of the Year" in 1972 and inducted into the Texas Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997. Gean retired from tennis coaching but never gave up the game. She continued dominating the court for years to come, serving aces until she was 79 years old.
When she wasn't on the tennis court, Gean could be found in her leather fringe and sequins every Sunday at the Stagecoach Ballroom in Fort Worth, Texas, spinning circles around unsuspecting dance partners and out-dancing people half her age. Other days, she was soaking up the sun and relaxing by the pool after her Zumba classes at the YMCA.
Whether she was ruling the tennis court like a queen, or twirling on the dance floor to Asleep at the Wheel, she did it all with grit, attitude, and wit sharper than a tack. While Gean may be stirring things up above, she leaves behind a lifetime of laughter and legacy of sass that will be cherished forever.