Alice Ashley Craddock Massey, 70, passed away peacefully on April 6, 2020 in Norfolk, Virginia, after a 12-year struggle with Posterior Cortical Atrophy. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, she was the daughter of the late Dr. George Barksdale Craddock and Mary Spencer Jack Craddock. She graduated from Seven Hills School, Mary Baldwin College, and received a Masters in Counseling from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.
Alice began her 31-year career at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, as the Coordinator of the Federal Women’s Program. She went on to manage the budget, head the Office of Human Resources, and liaise between NASA and Old Dominion University, retiring in 2005 as a Deputy Administrator. She was awarded a NASA Exceptional Service Medal when she was only 42 years old.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk where she served as a leader of the youth fellowship program and the Positive Christian Living Sunday School class. Alice was a member of the Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach, the Colonial Dames, and the Monday Club.
Alice loved the mountains and the sea, spending her summers growing up on the Cowpasture River in Bath County, and in her retirement years, at the beach in Southern Shores, North Carolina. She will be remembered for her grace and generosity of spirit, both to those she loved and to the less fortunate.
She is survived by her husband of 40 years, the Hon. Joseph Price Massey, her daughter, Dr. Ashley Massey Marks (Joshua) of Scarsdale, New York, her daughter, Price Massey Hall (Cosby) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, her granddaughter, Mercer Massey Hall, her grandson, Spencer Massey Hall, her brother, Dr. George Barksdale Craddock, Jr. (Martha) of Charlottesville, Virginia, her brother, Theodore Jack Craddock (Sallie) of Lynchburg, Virginia, and a number of nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the angels of Elder Care at Home, especially Sue Lane, who lovingly cared for Alice since August of 2011, and to the skilled nursing staff of Harbor’s Edge who cared for her since July.
Condolence(1)-
Meg Jack says
April 10, 2020 at 1:08 pmDear Joe, Ashley and Price and family,
I am so sorry for your loss, though I know you lost Alice, your mother, in many ways quite a while ago. She was a lovely lady, and her love for each of you was evident in every conversation I had with her. While I know you mourn her passing, I hope you take some comfort in knowing she is free from a disease that is a terrible life altering thief! I think there is beauty in her passing during Holy Week, and I have faith that she is now in God’s loving embrace.
Do know that I send love and my deepest sympathy to each of you. I keep you in my prayers.
With great fondness, Meg Jack