City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Edward (Ed) M Strong
Wake Forest, North Carolina
Age 83.
Died 02/22/2024.
In 1960, he asked for the blessing of Wilbur Bush to marry his daughter, Mickey, and they were married on September 20. They raised two children, Kim and Jeff. While busy raising children, coaching his son’s sports teams, serving the church and serving in the Air Force, Ed earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Theoretical Mathematics from Rollins College. Ed retired from the USAF on March 31, 1980. He then worked for ENSCO, a civilian partner of his USAF unit, for another 20 years.
Ed and Mickey enjoyed travel to every part of the globe, beginning with the United States and then visiting every continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica. They enjoyed wildlife safaris in Africa, the Great Wall of China, the history of Poland, and had many, many other adventures.
Ed had a servant’s heart, serving as a youth leader, leading youth teams to the Appalachia Service Project, working on mission teams regionally and internationally, delivering Meals on Wheels, volunteering with Wheels4Hope, teaching Adult Sunday School and singing in a choir that visited nursing homes, and in many other ways.
Ed enjoyed many sports, playing basketball in high school and early college, taking up tennis as an adult, playing often with friends, and taking up golf in his retirement years, playing regularly with friends met at church and in his neighborhood.
Ed was proud of his family—of his wife’s educational achievements and appointment as elementary school principal in Brevard County, FL; of his son’s athletic accomplishments, career success and family life with wife, Pam; of his daughter’s educational accomplishments, life as a pastor and family with Tom and Kirsten; he delighted in his granddaughter, Kirsten, and was so proud to see her graduate from college and graduate school.
As he reflected on his life, he said again and again, “I have been blessed” and affirmed his assurance that although his earthly life was coming to a close, his life in heaven is just beginning. His earthly life ended on February 22, 2024.
Ed was predeceased by his parents, sister, Sheila, brother, Leslie and daughter-in-law, Pam. He is survived by wife, Mickey, children, Kim (Tom) and Jeff, granddaughter, Kirsten, sister, Eunice, and many extended family members and brothers and sisters in Christ.
A service of death and resurrection will be held on Saturday, March 2 at 11:00AM at Wakefield UMC, 10701 Common Oaks Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 with fellowship following. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that you make a contribution to one of the two mission projects dear to Ed: Wheels4Hope.org or the Appalachia Service Project (asphome.org).
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.