Brooks "Brookie" Drake Craft

WADESBORO = Brookie Drake Craft, 93, passed away, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at Brookdale Union Park Assisted Living in Monroe, NC. 

 There will be a funeral service to celebrate Brookie’s life at 11:00 AM on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Calvary Episcopal Church with Father Craig Dolack, officiating. Interment will follow in Eastview Cemetery. 

 Brookie was born in Wadesboro, NC on November 29, 1930, and was the only child of the late Brooks Drake Craft Harrall and the late Hatcher McGee Craft. 

 She attended Miss Harriet Rose’s kindergarten in Wadesboro and began her formal education in the Wadesboro School System. She completed her high school years at Stuart Hall in Staunton, VA and following graduation there she attended and graduated from St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, NC. Brookie then furthered her education at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, where she was inducted into the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. In completing her education, she was given a two-month summer in Europe, which she found awe-inspiring. 

 Upon her return to Wadesboro, she volunteered throughout the community and worked with the Anson County Health Department. She later moved to New York, where she enjoyed working at SITA World Travel Agency and Tiffany and Company.  

 Following her time spent in New York, Brookie returned home to Wadesboro, where she managed the Ansonia Theatre, built by her grandfather, L.L. Drake in 1925. Her mother worked with her, managing the ticket booth. Today, the theatre is owned by the Anson County Arts Council and serves as an exceptional performing arts center, and is still known as the Ansonia Theatre. In 2017, the Arts Council honored Brookie and her family by naming the gallery there, The Drake Gallery. This was a special time in Brookie's life as the contributions her family made to the arts in Anson County was recognized in a kind and generous way. She was honored to cut the ribbon at the grand opening.

 Brookie enjoyed traveling the world, seeing all of its wonders, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures, but always came home to Wadesboro. She loved the closeness and charm a small Southern town offers and the lifelong friendships, some as far back as preschool. 

 She was a member of Calvary Episcopal Church in Wadesboro and served on the Altar Guild. She was also a member of The Anson County Arts Council, the Anson County Historical Society, and The Wadesboro Garden Club. 

 Surviving are her cousins, Lib Moore Jones of Durham, NC, Jean Hightower Gardener (Ted) of Morven, NC, and James Pinkston of Paw Creek, NC, and their families. 

 There is much gratitude to the staff and residents of Brookdale Union Park Assisted Living in Monroe for all the care, concern, and companionship she experienced while a resident there. She also had relationships with many friends in Wadesboro that meant a great deal to her and those friends were like family to her, for which she was grateful. Her Brookdale family and friends saw her through her final days until she slipped away peacefully. 

 In lieu of flowers, Brooke would be honored and grateful if you would consider a memorial gift to one of the following: Calvary Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 942, Wadesboro, NC 28170, or The Anson County Arts Council, Ansonia Theatre Fund, P.O. Box 332, Wadesboro, NC 28170 or The Anson County Historical Society, 206 E. Wade St., Wadesboro, NC 28170. 

 The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com

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