City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Hope Blanchard Christian
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 97.
Died 12/30/2024.
Hope was born in Hobbsville, NC on October 3rd, 1927 to Alvah and Marine Blanchard. In 1944, at the age of 16, she graduated from Gates County High School and left for Mars Hill College, followed by Carson-Newman College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1948. After college, she worked at First Baptist Church, Galax, VA whereupon she felt the Lord leading her to pursue a Masters degree at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY. While in seminary, she met the love of her life, Louis Gordon Christian, on a blind date in 1951. They married in 1952 and enjoyed 39 wonderful years together until his passing in 1991.
Hope’s greatest joy was serving her Lord Jesus Christ and helping others grow in their love for Him. As a teenager, she felt the call to Christian ministry and lived the rest of her life in response to that call through various roles. She served in youth ministry, college ministry, prison ministry, international ministry, “In-Crowd” ministry to homebound church members, and Rex Hospital chaplaincy. She enjoyed wonderful years in the 1970s and 80s as part of the Evangelism Staff of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, and upon her retirement, she enjoyed leading various prayer retreats and seminars across North Carolina.
One of her greatest ministry gifts was that of playing the piano, having learned to play by ear when she was a young girl. Whether with college students gathered around the piano in her living room, surrounded by her family singing hymns or Christmas carols during the holidays, or at a nursing home sing-along in recent years, Hope’s gift of music lifted spirits wherever she played. In addition, Hope was a lifelong member of organized church choirs. At age 90, she finally gave herself permission to “retire” from the Forest Hills Baptist Church choir, after decades of faithful membership.
Hope was preceded in death by her parents, loving husband, Lou, and sister, Lois Blanchard Bullard. She is survived by her two children, Dan Christian (Robbin) and Carol Christian Allen (George), adopted son and daughter-in-law, Getachew and Abeba Giorgis, and five beloved granddaughters who dearly loved their “Granny Hop”: Laura Beth Christian Davidson (Andrew), Mary Kate Christian Deal (William), Anna Christian Allen, Mary Carr Allen Bentley (RJ), Sallie Allen Thompson (Alex), and seven great-grandchildren, Jane, Anne, Sarah and Alice Davidson, Adeline and Dorothy Deal, and George Thompson. She always said her greatest joy and “lifeline” were her grandchildren, for whom she prayed daily and encouraged through notes (typed on her typewriter) and frequent phone calls.
Hope’s family is deeply grateful for the kindness and compassion shown to her the last two years by her two faithful companions, Viviane Vovor and Dee Liggins, as well as the loving staff at Morningside and Hillcrest. We rejoice that she has now been welcomed home into the arms of her Savior. Hallelujah, her faith is now sight!
A celebration of Hope’s life and God’s faithfulness to her will be held on Sunday, January 5th, at 3:00 pm at Forest Hills Baptist Church, followed by a reception in the Gathering Place, where the family will receive friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Forest Hills Baptist Church at 201 Dixie Trail, Raleigh, NC 27607.
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.