Mary Elizabeth Crews

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Crews passed away peacefully in Salisbury, North Carolina on August 18, 2025. Mary Lib as she was known for most of her life was born in Lenoir, North Carolina on September 9, 1923, the daughter of Judge Alfred Reese Crisp and Bertha Moye Crisp.

She graduated from Lenoir High School where she was a member of the girls’ basketball team and played clarinet in the famous Lenoir High Band which performed at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. She attended Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia. After college she worked in Atlanta, Georgia for Piedmont Airlines. She returned home to Lenoir and worked in the Broyhill Furniture Offices.

She married her high school sweetheart and love of her life, Charles E. “Eddie” Crews in Lenoir. Mary Lib and Eddie had a long and wonderfully happy life in Lenoir, raising their daughter Nancy and having a close and loving relationship with their family and friends.

Mary Lib and her sister-in-law Mary Emma Church were co-owners of Village Casuals, a ladies clothing store on Main Street, which they operated for 21 years. She was a member of Lenoir Service League and enjoyed her bridge club and the Cinderella Dance Club.

Mary Lib and Eddie were faithful and devoted members of First Presbyterian Church (which later became Lenoir Presbyterian Church). Mary Lib was a lifelong member of this church and at her passing was their oldest member.

In 2021 Mary Lib moved to Salisbury to be close to her daughter Nancy and her husband, Fred, relocating to Trinity Oaks living facility where she spent the next years surrounded by many new friends and a loving, caring staff. She was driving until age 99, and was so happy to be able to help people where she lived who may not have been as mobile.

She was so proud of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was an unwavering fan of all UNC sports especially basketball. The most important things to Mary Lib were her faith in God, her church, her family, and her friends.

In addition to her parents, Mary Lib is preceded in death by her husband, Eddie, her brother Alfred Reese Crisp, Jr., and her first son-in-law Raymond Earp.

She is survived by her daughter Nancy Earp Dula (Dr. Frederick M. Dula) of Salisbury, grandsons Raymond “Chip” Earp of Selma, NC, and Stewart Dula of Charlotte, NC, granddaughters, Leah Earp Hodge (Lee) of New Bern NC, and Caroline Dula Pearce (Austin) of Raleigh, NC and great grandchildren, Rachel Earp, Reid Hodge, and Mary Katherine Hodge.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests memorials be made to Lenoir Presbyterian Church, 1002 Kirkwood St., Northwest, Lenoir, North Carolina, 28645, or Trinity Oaks, 728 Klumac Rd., Salisbury NC 28144.

The family expresses their heartfelt thanks to the excellent medical and dental care Mary Lib received in her last few years, especially from Dr. Brent Seifert, Dr. Apur Kamdar, Dr. Don Fortner, Dr. Chetan Amin, Dr. Greg Kaufman, and Dr. Duncan Berry.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 PM Saturday August 23, 2025, at Lenoir Presbyterian Church, 1002 Kirkwood St. NW, Lenoir, NC, 28645 with Reverend Eric Bartel officiating. Following the service a reception will be held at Cedar Rock Country Club, 2065 Cedar Rock Estate Dr., Lenoir NC 28645. Burial will be private.

Evans Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Mary Lib.

Online condolences for the family can be made at www.evansfuneralservice.com.