Brenda F. Crabtree

Brenda Faulkner Crabtree, 82, passed away peacefully at home on August 9, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. She was born on April 5, 1943, in Lenoir County, North Carolina to Alpheus and Willie Ann Faulkner.

She was the middle of five girls and had such a strong bond with all her sisters. They were truly her best friends. She was a cheerleader and played basketball in high school. She graduated as the valedictorian of her Wheat Swamp High School class of 1961 and went on to become an Accountant working at several businesses and even with the IRS over the years.

She was the wife of Charles “Chuck” Crabtree to whom she was married for forty-nine loving years. They were married on October 19, 1974, in Kinston, North Carolina and settled in Rockville, Virginia to raise their three children. Chuck’s career eventually relocated them to Windham, New Hampshire in 1983 where they lived until retirement. The first 15 years of their retirement was spent in Currituck and New Bern, N.C. where they could be found on the beaches of the Outer Banks or Emerald Isle, and on the golf course in Taberna. In 2015, they moved back north to Hooksett, New Hampshire to live with their youngest daughter Jaime and her family.

Our beautiful Mom will always be remembered as a kind, gracious and loving woman, with a warm-hearted smile, a contagious laugh, and a sweet southern accent. She was the world’s best cook and loved to feed family and friends delicious meals that included her signature dishes of shrimp scampi, lasagna, fried chicken, biscuits, collard greens, fried cornbread, banana pudding, banana bread and so on. To many, she was described as “the life of the party” and lived to entertain whether it was open houses for Christmas Eve or dinner parties just because. She was always involved in her children’s activities, coaching cheerleading for Angie and basketball for Jaime. She was also an avid sports fan including college basketball (Go Duke!), college football (Go Hokies!), NFL (Go Pats!) and MLB (Go Boston Red Sox!). In her downtime, you could always find her working crossword puzzles or playing various card and word games on her computer. She was a woman of strong faith and read her Bible every night before bed.

She is predeceased by her husband Charles Robert Crabtree and her son-in-law, Gary Thomas Spicer.

She is survived by her children, Angela Crabtree Spicer, Robert Crabtree, Jr. (“Robbie”), Jaime Kristen O’Brien and her husband Christopher Charles O’Brien; grandchildren, Jordyn Taylor Spicer, Heather Ann Crabtree, Rachel Spicer Robertson and husband Tyler Robertson, Christian Thomas Spicer, Cierra Lynne Crabtree, Nina Devan Paradzick, Devan Christopher O’Brien, Natalie Paige Paradzick, and Riley Heather O’Brien; great-grandchildren, Emma Grace Peterson, Camden Thomas Robertson, and Charlotte Claire Robertson; sisters Ann Dunn, Sandy Davis, Judy Worthington and husband Leon Worthington, and Debbie Criswell and partner Craig Edwards; brother-in-law Bob Crabtree and wife Sherri Crabtree, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.

ARRANGEMENTS: No formal services will be held at this time. Our heartfelt thank you to the staff at Amedisys Home Hospice Care for their wonderful care and support.