Judy Arthur

Judy Carol Arthur was born on November 14, 1939 in Lenoir, NC to the late Sam and Joyce ‘Faye’ (Setzer) Safriet. The oldest of three children, Judy was a 1957 graduate of Lenoir High School and was a very proud Bearcat alumni. Following graduation, she attended King’s Business College in Charlotte, but shortly thereafter returned to Lenoir and married her high school sweetheart, William McCrary. Bill had enlisted in the Army after graduation, and they moved to Germany with his first assignment. Subsequently, they moved to Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California. The marriage ended after seven years. While living in California, Judy met and married her “soulmate for life” Frank Glen Arthur, Jr. They exchanged their wedding vows in Ensenada, Mexico on August 21, 1965. With that marriage, she gained four “bonus children”. Judy always had a keen mind and began her career in finance as a customer service representative at Public Finance Company (where she trained other local branches as they transitioned to a new computer system). In May 1974, Judy and Frank moved back to her hometown of Lenoir, where she secured a position as a loan officer at the Bank of Granite. Later she was promoted to the position of assistant manager in Hudson, and then as auditor/compliance officer at the business office in Granite Falls.Following her retirement from the Bank of Granite, Judy worked as an administrative assistant at Littlejohn United Methodist Church in Gamewell. In addition to generating the weekly bulletins, monthly newsletters, assisting the minister as needed and auditing the church financial records, she pursued her passion for genealogy and history by creating a directory of the historic Littlejohn Cemetery.Because of her enthusiastic leadership, a group of church members brought to life the Courtney Chapel at Lelia Tuttle Park on the Hartland Road using original lumber from the pre-civil war era church building. Judy loved her family, whether it was getting together at all the various holidays, playing cards, or going to the beach. She involved herself in working on her Class Alumni travel and reunion activities, family genealogy, helping plan the Setzer Reunions with her cousins, camping on Harper’s Creek with her siblings, panning for gold, and traveling with her husband. Frank and Judy were best friends as well as partners in life, which yielded a near-perfect marriage. When Alzheimer’s Disease took away her independence, Frank also became her primary caregiver, until round-the-clock nursing care was required. Preceding Judy in death were her parents and beloved husband. At the time of his death, on Feb. 26, 2018, they had been married 52 ½ years. Judy leaves behind her “children” Diana (Jim) Hale and Debbra (Ed) DeVusser of Caldwell County, NC, Donna Wige of Gresham, OR,Donald Arthur of Port Angeles, WA, sister Alice (Ott) Hightower and brother Sam (Deborah) Safriet of Caldwell County, 9 grandchildren, numerous great and great-great-grandchildren in various states. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Littlejohn United Methodist Church Building Fund. A celebration of life service will be held at Littlejohn United Methodist Church, 4120 Littlejohn Church Road, Lenoir, NC on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 1:00 pm with Reverend Allen Boliek officiating. Following the service, family and friends will gather in the Clay Fellowship Hall at the church to share food and memories. Online condolences can be sent to the family at www.evansfuneralservice.com. Evans Funeral Service and Crematory of Lenoir is serving the Arthur family.