With deep sadness we announce the death of Patricia (Pat) Ehle Ceperley of Christiansburg on Aug. 22, in Dayton, Ohio, after a long journey with cancer.
She was born Aug. 10, 1943, in Anderson, Indiana, the eldest daughter of the late Phyllis Harmeson and Richard Oakley Ehle. She was also preceded in death by her husband, James R. Craig, Ph.D.
She is survived by son, Andrew (Drew) R. Ceperley Jr. and wife, Amy Morris, of Clive, Iowa; daughter, Leah Jane Ceperley and wife, Amy Brown, of Dayton; grandchildren, Alexander Morris Ceperley and Jay Morris Ceperley; her sisters, Joyce Hetzler and her husband, Robert, of Bay City, Michigan, and Marjorie Courtney and her husband Don, of Carmel, Indiana; and several nieces and nephews. She is also survived by Clayland H. Waite, special friend and travel companion. She leaves behind many friends who will miss her dearly.
Pat graduated in 1961 from Madison Heights High School, Anderson, Indiana. She received a B.S. degree in Home Economics from Purdue University (1965), an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from the University of Houston (1969), and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from West Virginia University (1997). A life-long educator, Pat taught at the secondary level in New York, Texas and West Virginia and the college level at the University of Houston and Virginia Tech. After brief stints at the West Virginia legislature and West Virginia School Boards Association, she was employed for more than 15 years by Edvantia (formerly Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Inc.) in Charleston, West Virginia, where she served as a consultant to school-, district-, and state-level educators. She deeply valued and dedicated her life’s work and service to ensuring quality foundational education for all.
She also dedicated herself to supporting and caring for her adopted community of Blacksburg. In retirement, she was an active and instrumental volunteer in the New River Valley Master Gardeners, Villas at Peppers Ferry Condo Unit Owners Association, and a long-time board member of Virginia Tech Women’s Club. Her friends remember her by her strength, courage, and positive energy, her loving, warm, and deeply caring friendships, bright and welcoming smile, and her unflagging volunteer efforts.
Her children will carry on her love of gardens and miss the many ways she showed her unfailing care, love, and support throughout their lives, especially her regular phone calls and thoughtful birthday and holiday cards.
The family is planning a celebration of life in Blacksburg at a later date.
At her request, her body will be cremated and cremains will be interred at Memorial Gardens of the New River Valley, Blacksburg. Pat asks that memorials be made to the CFNRV Foundation VTWC Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 6009, Christiansburg, VA 24068-6009 or your favorite charity.
“The only things that count in life are the imprints of love that we leave behind us after we have gone.” -Albert Schweitzer
