Obituary of Lillian J. Craig

Lillian J. Craig (Dellow) Lillian Juva Stafford Craig (Dellow), 92, formerly of Virgil, Spafford and McGraw, N.Y., died Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 at Cortland Regional Medical Center after a long period of declining health. She was born April 29, 1924, at home, the second of four daughters to Dr. Ellis C. and Phebe Anne (Hollenbeck) Stafford. Lillian attended the one-room Virgil District 11 school for grades 1 through 8 and graduated from Cortland High School in 1941. She graduated from Cortland State Teacher's College as valedictorian with summa cum laude honors in 1945. She also completed 30 hours of graduate and in-service courses. Lillian and her three sisters were Cortland County spelling bee champions for nine years straight from 1937 to 1945 while in high school. Lillian taught grades five through eight at the two-room Blodgett Mills village school from 1945-46, substituted in various Cortland County schools from 1956-65, taught grades four and five full-time in the Homer Central School District retiring in 1984, and continued substitute work from 1984-1998 mostly in Dryden Central Schools. She was married to Gilbert W. Craig Sr. on Aug. 14, 1946. She and Gilbert owned and operated a dairy farm in Spafford until his death in 1985. In January 1990, Lillian remarried to H. Alfred Dellow and moved to McGraw and embarked on a whole new chapter in her life. Lillian devoted her life to her family and educating all those she encountered in her work as a Girl Scout assistant leader, 4-H leader, Sunday School teacher and formal teacher in her career at Homer school. She was a member of the Scott United Methodist Church, Scott United Methodist Women, a charter and current member of the Spafford F.D. Ladies Auxiliary, Cortland Area Retired Teachers, NYS Retired Teacher Assoc., NYEA and NEA. She was a caring and loving influence to all who were lucky enough to know her. She will be dearly missed and loved always by her family and friends. She is survived by her six children: daughter, Marilyn Inman of Virgil; sons, Gilbert Jr. (Rose) of Leola, Pa., George (Pamela) of McGraw, Glenn "Sparky" of Tully, Gerald (Cynthia) of McGraw and Gene (Barbara) of Cortlandville; 13 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; a brother-in-law, Eugene Vanderbunt of Wauseon, Ohio; several nieces and nephews; and by Alfred's children, Gloria (John) Perry, Marlan (Sonya) Dellow, Jeanette (Don) Halsey-Bell, Rita (Robert) Wood and Betty (Leon) McUnber and their families. Lillian was predeceased by her husbands Gilbert in 1985 and Alfred in 2008, as well as her parents; three sisters, Carolyn (William) Gilbaugh, Winifred (John) Jones and Evelyn Vanderbunt; two sisters in law Nellie and Howard Wheelock and Leona and Jack Franklin, and son-in-law, Michael Inman. Services will be held 1 pm Friday at the Scott United Methodist Church, Rt. 41. Burial will follow at Atwater Cemetery, Homer. A luncheon will be served for family and friends after the burial at the Spafford firehouse. Calling hours will be Thursday from 4 to 7 at Wright-Beard Funeral Home, 9 Lincoln Ave., Cortland. Contributions, in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Spafford F.D. Auxiliary, 660 Route 41, Homer, NY 13077. Online condolences may be made to www.wright-beard.com