City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
John Craig Dorsey
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 78.
Died 11/14/2024.
June 4, 1946-November 14, 2024
John Craig Dorsey died peacefully surrounded by his family on November 14, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A Celebration of Life will be held at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1704 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, NC on Friday, December 6, 2024 at 2:00 PM. The family will receive friends following the service in the Jane Bell Gathering Space.
John was born in Berea, Ohio on June 4, 1946. He was the son of Anne Hewitt Dorsey and James Hazlitt Dorsey. He is survived by his older sister, Ellen Hewitt Dorsey, his wife, Suzanne Marie Dorsey, his children, Leah Dorsey Harris (William), Hayes Richard Dorsey (Katherine), and Anne Kathryn Dorsey (Jamie), his granddaughter, Ellis Harris and his step-grandchildren Graham and Henry Kingston. John and Suzanne’s second granddaughter (Hayes and Katherine) is expected to arrive in late December. He was preceded in death by his parents.
John grew up in Berea and graduated from Berea High School in 1964, where he lettered in baseball, football and basketball. He gathered a wonderful group of friends with whom he still keeps in touch.
Wittenberg University was the next step in John’s journey. While at Wittenberg, he played basketball and joined a fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, where he served as president his senior year. The friendships he made at Wittenberg have lasted a lifetime.
John joined the Admissions Department at Wittenberg upon graduating, where he focused on recruitment. While he found this work enjoyable, he felt called to pursue a career in law. John attended The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC., earning a Juris Doctor Degree with Honors in 1973.
Following graduation from law school, John moved to Columbus, Ohio. There, he first joined the practice of the Schottenstein Law Firm. Later, he moved to the Teaford and Bernard Law Firm, eventually becoming Teaford, Rich, and Dorsey. He represented many companies and individuals during his time in Ohio.
In 1983, John married Suzanne Marie McCool in Columbus, Ohio. They had a loving and caring relationship that lasted more than 40 years. After their first child, Leah, was born, they moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1985. There, John joined the law firm Manning, Fulton, and Skinner. He practiced tax, estate planning, and ERISA work for 39 years. He was a conscientious, devoted and well-respected attorney.
John found true joy in giving back to his community in Raleigh, as exemplified by coaching his children in the City Leagues and YMCA teams. He was a dedicated member of the Raleigh community, assisting many organizations. Most notably, he was integral in the formation of The 200 Club of Wake County, continuing to serve on the board for over 20 years. John was also honored for his distinguished service of more than 20 years as a trustee for the North Carolina State Bar Money Purchase Pension Plan.
John loved his family pets, particularly the family beagles, Belle and Lucy. He remained an enthusiastic fan of all Cleveland professional teams throughout his life and was an original season ticket holder for the Carolina Hurricanes.
We are especially grateful for the support of our friends and family and the loving care given to our husband, father, and Grampy by Dr. Steven Liebowitz, the staff at the North Carolina Heart & Vascular Hospital, the UNC Rex Cancer Hospital, and Transitions LifeCare.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to: The 200 Club of Wake County, North Carolina Heart & Vascular Hospital, or Transitions LifeCare.
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.