Charlottesville, Va.—No dance floor needed. If music was playing, Loretta was dancing. Even as Alzheimer’s robbed her memory, she never forgot her dance moves, dancing right up to the end. She took her last turn on the dance floor on August 10, 2022.
Loretta was a regal fashionista, an artist, a philanthropist, a volunteer, co-owner of Soup “N” Such, friend to many, and life of the party. In addition to being an amazing mother and grandmother to her own, she had a deep affection and concern for less fortunate children and animals, always fretting about child hunger and chasing snakes away from the birds’ nests on the farm. And she loved the family farm—the sunrises, sunsets over the Blue Ridge Mountains with a cold beer, the visiting cows, and, at its peak, the days with grandchildren running around on the land, swinging on the swing, jostling for space on the hammock, stomping through mud, and fishing the pond.
Loretta is survived by her three sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Kim Milby, Eric and Megan Milby, and R. Todd and Shannon Hirschfeld, stepsons Kevin Hirschfeld (Shelby) and Jason Hirschfeld (Michelle); grandchildren Jack, Nick, Ella, Maggie, Sarah, Tenley, Emilie, Afton, Tanner, Lexi, Lanie, Caylee, and Ethan, sisters Sandy Sawyer, Connie Motley, and sisters-in-law Butch Crafton, Estie Cohen (Nick), and JoAnn Glass (Ron).
Loretta was predeceased by her husband Richard, her parents John and Laura Crafton, and her brothers Michael and Delbert Crafton.
The family hosted a celebration of her life on her beloved Traveler’s Rest farm in Afton, Va. Donations in her honor can be made to alz.org or NoKidHungry.org.