Submitted by: Dan Rich

Joan Yeager Cragg

Apr. 27, 1923 - Dec. 29, 2000

South Bend Tribune 1/2/2001

Joan Yeager Cragg, 76, a long-time resident of South Bend, Ind., and Mishawaka, Ind., died at her home in Nokomis, Fla., on Friday, Dec. 29, from heart failure. Mrs. Cragg also maintained a home in Lakeside, Mich. Mrs. Cragg was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., and spent most of her early life in the South Bend area. She was the daughter of the late former State Senator, Freeman C. Yeager and the late Helen Punches Yeager. Mrs. Cragg attended the Ferry Hall Academy in Lake Forest, Ill., and graduated from Mishawaka High School. She attended Purdue University, the University of Arizona, and St. Mary's College. Most recently, she was continuing her college studies at Manatee Community College of Sarasota, Fla. Mrs. Cragg maintained a lifelong interest in education. She was a founder of the Cleland School in South Bend, which later became the private Stanley Clark School. She believed strongly in exposing children to multi-cultural experiences, and consequently sent her children over forty years ago to schools in Europe and Quebec, Canada. Mrs. Cragg was also involved in numerous charitable and civic causes. She was a member of the South Bend and Sarasota Junior Leagues.

Mrs. Cragg had seven children with her first husband, Edmund F. Brown: Charles Clark of Lakeside, Edmund Freeman of Asbury Park, N.J., Anne Warren of Wilmette, Ill., Henry Haskell of South Bend, Andrew Breed of Lakeside, Katherine Helen of Enville, England, and Joshua Thomas of Dunwoody, Ga. Her first marriage ended in divorce. She was subsequently married to Mr. Richard E. Cragg of Winnetka, Ill., and Lakeside. Friends remember them as a loving couple with a great sense of humor and adventure. They particularly cherished the time they spent at their homes overlooking either Lyons Bay in Florida or Lake Michigan. Eleven grandchildren also survive Mrs. Cragg.

A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6, in the Harbert Community Church, Harbert, Mich. The church is located at the corner of Harbert and Three Oaks Roads.