Obituary of Elva Julia Craig

Elva Julia Craig of Iowa City went Home to be with her Lord on Friday, September 10, 2021, dying from brain cancer. Elva's family will receive guests at the Faith Baptist Church (1251 Village Rd., Iowa City) for a Memorial Service on Tuesday, October 5th at 7 pm. Something that was true of Elva was her unselfish nature, and she made sure this carried through even to her death. It was important to her to have her physical shell donated to medical science for so many to learn and ultimately care for others from her gift. Elva was born on July 24, 1940, in Caldwell, NJ, daughter of John and Phoebe (Verna Hyatt) Craig, Sr. She attended Douglass College (Rutgers University) for 2 years and then graduated from Northeastern Collegiate Bible College, in Essex Fells, NJ. She joined Baptist Mid-Missions in 1966 and spent 4 years in Kenai, Alaska as a missionary helping in church planting, camps, and youth work. She came to Cedar Falls, IA in 1976 to work with Campus Bible Fellowship at the University of Northern Iowa and University of Iowa. In 1982 she moved to Iowa City, with co-workers Tom and Nancy Miller, to continue working with university students, especially Internationals. She loved working with these students, teaching them English, having Bible studies with them, and showing them the love of God through hospitality. She would invite them into her home for a meal, and then play games or have lively discussions. She enjoyed having them for holidays also and would regularly have 18 – 20 Internationals over for Thanksgiving dinner, and have many different groups over for Christmas parties when she would share the real meaning of Christmas (often using pictures to be sure they understood). She loved her Lord and wanted to see all her students accept Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin and be assured of a home in Heaven, teaching them that it isn’t by their works (Eph.2:8,9) but by faith alone. She loved to travel and had been in all 50 states of the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. She traveled 3 times to Asia (8 countries), often visiting former students in their homes. She’s been to the Middle East, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Korea, Haiti & 8 countries in Europe. She is survived by a sister-in-law, Peggy Craig of South Carolina, as well as her “adopted” sister and brother-in-law, Heidi and Dietmar Wagenknecht of California. She has 9 nieces and nephews, and many great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, brother, sister and all aunts and uncles. To share a thought, memory or condolence with her family, please visit the funeral home website @ www.gayandciha.com.