Nannette Thomas Craun's Obituary
On Sunday, January 22, 2023, Nannette Craun, horse and Yorkie lover, Rolling Stones fan, fisherwoman, and beachgoer passed away. She was sixty-three years old.
Nannette - or Nan, as she was known to friends - was born May 22, 1959, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to William and Martha Thomas. Nannette grew up in Pennsylvania with her parents and younger brother, Bill, living in Coopersburg, Quarryville, and Elizabethtown before relocating with her family to Chantilly in 1968. Growing up in the early 70s, Nannette loved rock-and-roll and even had a beaded bedroom door (that her brother Bill was not allowed to enter through). Nannette embodied the hippie culture throughout her life and was known for her easy-going personality.
Nannette spent her childhood summers camping with her family as they piled into their 1965 Dodge Dart and zig-zagged across the US. They traveled across 30 different states and to Mexico on their PA-to-CA and back summer trips. Nannette also enjoyed picking on her younger brother, even “teaching him how to swim” by tossing him into a pool and “throwing him out of the second story of a barn” (although her side of the story was always that he wanted to learn how to fly).
Nannette made a career out of printing and design, starting at TR Press in Warrenton on 5th Street in the late 80s. She worked at PIP Printing from ‘92 to ‘94 and then spent most of her professional career at Piedmont Press. Nannette retired from full-time work at Nokesville Print and Copy Center in 2016.
Nannette married her first husband, David “Skeebo” Craun, in July of 1987 in a small backyard ceremony. Nannette and David shared a love of fishing and baseball. The two would pile into their little brown Nissan truck and go fishing as often as possible. They were routinely seen watching Orioles games together. The two welcomed their only child, Sara, in 1989. Unfortunately, David passed away in 1994.
While living in Warrenton, Nannette loved to visit places like Fat Tuesday’s, Julio’s, and Napoleon’s. She routinely took her daughter to Ben and Mary’s to see Mike Fling play on the piano, Country Cookin’ so Sara could load her salad up on ranch dressing, and Tippy’s for Taco Tuesdays. In addition, she attended many concerts at Nissan Pavilion, like Aretha Franklin (whom she was incredibly excited about), the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Dave Matthews Band, to name a few.
Nannette remarried in 2000 to Wayne Shifflett and moved to Sumerduck. They spent 17 years together until he passed away in 2017. They enjoyed watching sports together, attending local baseball and softball games, and being avid Washington Nationals and Commanders fans. They also spent lots of time outdoors together, going fishing, attending bluegrass festivals, and spending time with Wayne’s adult children and their families.
Nannette’s pride and joy was her only child, Sara. She spent many years driving her back and forth from soccer tournaments all over Northern Virginia and loved to watch her play while she attended Cedar Lee Middle School and Liberty High. Many of you might remember her cheering Sara on (and sometimes getting into trouble with her sideline antics). When Sara attended VCU for college, Nannette went down to visit as often as possible, mainly to clean her apartment, but also to spend time exploring Richmond together and dining at Richmond restaurants like Comfort, which was one of her favorites. In 2012, Sara graduated from VCU and moved out of Virginia to pursue a new career in New York City. Nannette made many trips back and forth to NYC to see her. They spent lots of time going to Rockaway Beach (not a surprise as Nannette loved the beach), seeing historical sites within the city and getting food from Halal Guys (her favorite). Although Nannette could not come to visit Sara after she moved to Texas in 2021, they FaceTimed many times, and Sara shared pictures of her new home with her mom (including photographic evidence that her apartment was, in fact, clean “for once”).
Nannette was never one to want to stay inside and was distinctly interested in activities that would get her out of the house and into nature. In junior high, Nannette became interested in horseback riding and became a competitive hunter-jumper with her horse CM in high school. She continued to work with horses at stables in Chantilly and attended college for equestrian studies, although she did not complete her degree. While she didn’t own horses in her adult life, Nannette continued to indulge in her love of horses by attending the Gold Cup and other steeplechase races yearly with her daughter and close friends. Her eyes would light up whenever she saw or rode a horse throughout the rest of her life.
Nannette’s love for animals extended into her adult life, starting with getting a cat named Soho for her daughter, Sara after her first husband passed. When Soho “went missing,” she rescued a new cat named Jack. Jack and Sara were inseparable, and he was a great indoor/outdoor cat, which Nannette enjoyed. Nannette had many other pets over the years, including having several outdoor cats at once, and she even rescued two adult Yorkies, Joey and Gabe, who were incredibly needy. Still, she loved them so much and took so much pride in caring for them. She also loved her step-daughter Amanda’s dog, Willis, and could be seen walking with him up and down their gravel road in Sumerduck and yelling out of her bedroom window at him to “stop barking!” in the middle of the night.
Nannette loved to work in her yard and spent many years tending to a large backyard garden where she grew many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, many of which she handed out to neighbors and friends (remember all the squash she would get?). She could be seen paying particular attention to her crepe myrtle and planting and replanting bushes and other plants at her home in Sumerduck. She especially loved caring for orchids and routinely had at least one in her home. After Nannette retired from full-time work, she worked at a plant nursery, taking advantage of her employee discount to spruce up her front lawn repeatedly (and complaining about them leaving the flowers out overnight). If you ever had a question about a specific type of plant and how to take care of it, Nannette could tell you how to do it.
Outside of gardening, Nannette enjoyed many other outdoor activities. She was an avid fisherwoman, starting with baitcasting with her first husband, David, and then trying her hand at fly fishing with her second husband, Wayne. She also spent as much time at the beach as possible, whether it be Virginia Beach, the Outer Banks, the beaches of Florida, and most recently, Colonial Beach. Nannette was her happiest sitting beside the ocean. Nannette also loved to travel and, in recent years, went to Ireland twice with her best friend Katie and her daughters, where she indulged in many Guinness beers (her favorite).
Nannette loved all types of music, from R.E.M. and Alanis Morisette to The Rolling Stones and The Seldom Scene. She attended the Graves Mountain Bluegrass Festival for many years, camping with her late husband Wayne and enjoying the festival atmosphere, including bathing in the cold creeks (brr!).
She also loved bbqing, becoming the grill queen at her home in Sumerduck, and cooking outdoors as much as possible. She indulged in licorice, Toblerone, pistachios, Reese’s cups, and unsweet tea. She loved watching Pardon The Interruption and Law & Order, was a huge Anthony Bourdain fan, and was a devoted Howard Stern listener. She was a regular at M&P’s in Sumerduck (she loved a good Hawaiian pizza) and visited the Sumerduck Trading Company frequently while she lived there.
In recent years, Nannette spent most of her time in Warrenton with her partner, Wayne O’Brien. The two would visit Colonial Beach together in hopes of one day purchasing a home and retiring there. Although those plans never materialized, Nannette loved and appreciated her time there with him. They also went on trips to the beach in Navarre, FL, and Jekyll Island, GA. Lately, they spent most of their time hanging out around the apartment, watching Law & Order and cooking shows together, and taking care of their lizard, Fred. Her family recognizes the sacrifices Wayne made to make Nannette happy and care for her as her health declined and greatly appreciates everything he did for her over the last four years.
In her 63 years, Nannette taught her friends and family many things. That the Rolling Stones were better than the Beatles, that Guinness was the beer above all beers, and to always Do The Right Thing. Despite her struggles, Nannette was always kind and loving toward everyone she came across. She is incredibly missed.
Nannette is survived by her daughter, Sara Craun, her father, William (Nancy) Thomas, her brother, Bill (Angie) Thomas, and their children, Christine and Dylan Thomas, her three step-children, Christine Meadows, Amanda Shifflett, and Thomas Shifflet, and her partner, Wayne O’Brien. She was preceded in death by her first husband, David “Skeebo” Craun, her second husband, Wayne Shifflett, and her mother, Martha Thomas.
There will be a celebration of life from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at Found & Sons Funeral Chapel of Culpeper, VA. Nannette did not want a funeral, and she honestly would've been upset that this obituary was written in the first place. Because of this, we request that only cut bouquets that don’t remind you of a funeral are sent; some of her favorite flowers were orchids, lilies, lilacs, peonies, sunflowers, tulips, and roses.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Paws for Seniors (https://pawsforseniors.org/), Colonial Beach Community Foundation (https://cbcommunityfoundation.org/), or Alcoholics Anonymous (https://www.aa.org/).
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