Elizabeth "Cricket" McElrath West

Mrs. Elizabeth ""Cricket"" McElrath West, 86, passed away Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at Clemmons Village II, after a courageous battle with vascular dementia since 2005. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Mary McElrath, and three brothers, John, Jack and Tommy Lee McElrath. She leaves behind her loving & devoted husband of 65 years, Donald R West; 4 daughters: Donna Konkler, Robin Reid (Blake), Kim West (Gail) , and Janice Mendek (Steve); 4 grandchildren: David Konkler Jr (Steph), Heather Huels (Mike), Dustin Craven (Kayla), and Amanda Pope (Keith); 2 great-granddaughters: Sydney and Savannah Konkler; numerous nieces, 1 nephew, several cousins and a number of ‘granddogs'. Born Elizabeth Irene, she was immediately nicknamed ‘Cricket' by her aunt who said she was ""pert as a cricket"", meaning healthy and active. She met Don, the love of her life, at Reynolda Presbyterian Youth Fellowship when she was 16, and one of their first dates was to the Christmas Eve Lovefeast at Calvary Moravian Church, where he was a member. That ‘date' became a ‘tradition' and she attended the lovefeast annually thereafter with her family. Cricket graduated from Old Town School in 1949, married Don in 1951 and began working for Quality Oil Co. In 1953, when the first of 4 girls was born, she quit work to become the consummate ""domestic engineer"", taking exceptional care of her family and home. Cricket was an avid sports player & fan, playing basketball in high school and then with the Twin City All Stars, softball for Barq Bottling Co, and cheering for the Atlanta Braves. She passed her love of athletics on to her daughters and could be found at all their games hollering from the sidelines. Her competitiveness spread to badminton, croquet, ping pong, bocce ball and putt putt where she loved to beat Don and claim bragging rights. Cricket loved the companionship of man's best friend and a dog or two was always part of the family. She'll always be in our hearts, for we ALL love her and will miss her very much. A funeral service will be held 6:00 P.M. Thursday, February 18, 2016 at Hayworth-Miller Kinderton Chapel in Advance, NC, with visitation immediately following the service. Interment will be at 11:00 A.M. the next day in Westlawn Gardens of Memory, Clemmons, NC. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials in Cricket's name be made to Forsyth Humane Society, 61 Miller St, Winston-Salem, NC or Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, 401 Technology Lane, Suite 200, Mt Airy, NC 27030. Online condolences may be made to www.hayworth-miller.com. The family would like to thank the staff at Clemmons Village II for their wonderful & loving care of Cricket the past few years and Mountain Valley Hospice for their assistance over the last few months.

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