Goodbye to a Longtime Friend

Years ago when I worked at another paper I received a phone call from a local minister. Rev. Beverly Craig (“Rev. Bev”) was miffed at me because I had stalled on placing a story in the paper about a quilter in her church (the Center for Spiritual Living-La Crescenta, formerly the La Crescenta Church of Religious Science).

Fast-forward a couple of years and Rev. Bev called me with an idea to have a feature in my newspaper, the CV Weekly, that focused on issues of faith. We batted some ideas around and came up with the title of Spiritually Speaking. For years she coordinated with local faith leaders to answer questions with a faith-based slant that were posed to her. This section, at least for me, was thought-provoking and interesting.

At one point a few years ago there was room to add a board member onto the CV Chamber of Commerce. I put forth the name of Rev. Bev and without much fanfare she was made a board member.

Rev. Bev rarely missed a chamber board meeting (they used to be held on the morning of the first Wednesday of the month). Even during COVID, she made sure to be on the Zoom call so her voice could be heard on a variety of issues.

Rev. Bev also took part in most of the mixers the chamber hosted, bringing a prize for the opportunity drawing (many times a box of See’s Candies – a highly prized gift). She was a constant source of support for Prom Plus, too, always making sure that plenty of pizza or pasta was supplied for the all-night event.

She was a regular at Foster’s Donuts, always making sure copies of the CV Weekly were there, and often meeting there with friends and congregants.

Rev. Bev also lived in an apartment below where my son, his wife and daughter lived. Consequently, we shared stories of being a mom and grandmother.

About a month ago I got a call from Rev. Bev that she was in USC-VHH so I set aside some time go visit her. A day or two later and she was released to go home. She called me to make sure that everything was okay with Spiritually Speaking, which it was.

Unfortunately, a couple of days after that Rev. Bev landed back in the hospital.

Mary O’Keefe and I went to visit her and this time things weren’t so good. She was intubated so she couldn’t talk and it hurt my heart to see her so uncomfortable.

It was only a couple of days before Rev. Beverly Craig died. Rev. Bev was one of those “quiet forces” in the Crescenta Valley, someone who saw a need and stepped in to get it done.

She was a powerhouse and will be missed.