City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
April Leigh Whitaker
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 50.
Died 06/06/2024.
April was born on April 12, 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida and was the youngest of three daughters born to Richard and Janet Whitaker. She was preceded in death by her sister Angela Frances Whitaker Revis, Grandparents Clifford and Edna Whitaker, Grandparents John and Zelma Vaught, Uncle Jerry Lee Whitaker, and Aunt Linda Vaught Hart.
April leaves behind her beloved husband, Christopher H. Anderson, her parents Richard and Janet Whitaker, sister Jennifer A. Whitaker Mosely (Jeff Mosely, Madison, and David), brother in-law Guy Wendell Revis (Skyler and Lola), sister in-law Monique Gainsely-Spears (Veronica), mother in-law Kathleen Anderson (Jim) and many more cousins, aunts, and uncles whom she loved very much.
April’s beautiful story began with her early years growing up in Jacksonville, going to church, the beach, music, and dance lessons. She was the sweetest and most easy-going child anyone ever knew and she loved dogs. Much like her sisters, she learned to play flute and piano. She also became very involved in dance with a special focus in ballet and graduated from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. April’s continued embrace of arts and culture throughout her life led her to earn a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Florida and a Master of Archaeology from the University of West Florida. It was during her time working on her masters in Pensacola when she met her future husband, Chris and they were married on March 29, 2003. They were joyfully married for twenty-one wonderful years. They had so many amazing times and adventures together and lived in Tucson, Arizona with their dog Barley for several years. April worked in archaeological excavations and research for Tierra Archaeology Services and was a Certified Southwestern Archaeologist. She was able to experience the wide-open desert and had a vast knowledge of the land and the ancient civilizations that inhabited it. April and Chris eventually settled in North Carolina where she was employed at North Carolina State University in the Foreign Language Department as the Student Services Coordinator. She was a beloved and respected member of the department and will be greatly missed by everyone there.
Her loving kindness, honesty, and sweetness will abide in our hearts forever. April loved animals and dogs especially. In lieu of flowers, we suggest that a donation to a rescue or animal shelter be made in her name.
A loving tribute to April's life will be held at a memorial service at
11 AM on Sunday July 14, 2024 at the Whitaker Family Reunion.
227 Dahl Road, Somerset, Kentucky 42503
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.