Agnes Ruth (Craddock) Hall- Wright

A life so beautifully lived deserves to be beautifully remembered.  Please join us in mourning the passing of Agnes Wright, of Gadsden, AL who traded time for eternity on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, at the age of 91.  Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.  

Agnes Ruth Craddock was born to the late Mr. Samuel D. and Agnes Craddock on June 25, 1933, in Headland, Alabama.  She accepted Christ Jesus as her Lord and Savior at an early age and served Him until He received her in His Bosom on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.  Agnes served in many capacities during her spiritual walk.  She was baptized at the Union Hill Freewill Baptist Church.  She had a voice!  Agnes was gifted with a beautiful voice and she used her gift to glorify God.  As a small child, she song at church functions, and meeting centers, and traveled for singing engagements.  She loved singing in the church choir with her sisters, Mary Jewel and Eva Lou, and other choir members.  While attending, she also sung with the Alabama Teacher’s College Choir (Alabama State University).  Wherever she went, she associated herself with a church family.  When she moved to Gadsden, she associated herself with the Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church in Ohatchee, Alabama, and attended until her health failed.  If you ever spoke with her, she would tell you many stories of her Summer Bible training, how she sung with many Gospel groups, and how much she loved worship service, and especially how much she loved the Lord.

She received her education at Headland School for Coloreds.  Agnes was Valedictorian of her Senior class and matriculated to Alabama Teacher’s College (presently ASU) in Montgomery, Alabama.  There she met the love of her life, James Clarence Hall, Jr.  He saw her walking on campus and told his friend, “There goes my wife.”  True to his word, they were married in 1953.  To this union, five boys were born.  Agnes, James, and the boys moved to Gadsden, Alabama in 1968 and remained until his passing in 1989.

Agnes was a trained beautician and taught at Woodson Jr. High School in Andalusia, AL.  When she moved to Gadsden, she was the first Black hired by Murphy Variety Store in the Agricola Shopping Center.  She was hired as a teacher for the PEEP Program at L. V. Johnson School and was hired as the first Black female for the Department of Motor Vehicle Office in Glencoe, Alabama.  She was promoted to District Supervisor and served the Northeast Alabama area until her retirement after twenty-five years of service.

Her hobbies were talking about her sons, attending the Methodist Women Workshops, going shopping and to the movies, working puzzles, eating a “juicy hamburger” and having her most favorite delicacy, a large Strawberry Milkshake!

In 1991, Agnes married Henry Wright and moved to Centre, Alabama.  She enjoyed her senior years with Henry and worshipped at St. Mary’s United Methodist Church. They worked civically in many capacities as they served the Centre community.  In this union, she gained five bonus children, Mark Wright, Henri Jean Bonner, Kent (Sandra) Wright, NaJoid (Eulysha) Wright, and her loving daughter companion, Darease Wright. Also, she had chosen children, Tameka, Jordan, and Jaden Dobbins.  Henry and Agnes were married for twenty-four years until his passing in 2015.

Agnes was preceded in death by her husbands, James Clarence Hall, Jr., and Henry Wright; parents, brothers, Willie Loyd, Theophilus Craddock, and Donald Lowe; sons, James “PeeWee” and Theophilus “Teddy” Hall; granddaughter, Veeda Beverly; great-grandson, Eriq Hammock; daughter-in-law, Frankie Colston-Hall; nephew, Thomas Croft, and niece, Arlana McDaniel.

Her memories will be cherished by her precious sons, Gutierez “Bud” (Shirley) Hall, Austin “Winkie” Hall, and Gerald “Sam” (Rosita) Hall, all of Gadsden, Alabama; sisters, Mary Jewel (Roosevelt) Joiner, Hartford, CT, and Eva Lou McDaniel, Headland, Alabama; grandsons; Delvin, Brandon (Frances), Terry (Margaret), and Theo Hall, Jonathan (Kimberly) and Erik (Kayla) Hammock, Marlon (Camilla), Marcus (Marlene), Terrick (Janae’a), and Devin Wright, Demarcus (Nikki) Mosley; granddaughters, Whitney,  Courtney, Marlena, LaKendra (John),  LaToya (Carlos); great-grands, Kingston, Judah, Justice, Semaj, and Cairo Hall; chosen daughters, Vanessa “Lulu” Hall and Delois Dozier; chosen son, Shawn Covington; special niece, Dorothy Perkins, and special sister, Rosa Battles, both of Louisville, KY;  sisters-in-law, Mildred Johnson, Willie R. Wright, Centre, AL,  and Yvonne Miller, Detroit, MI;  friends, Myrtle Watts and Johnnie Austin, Columbia, TN, Rose Diamond, Centre, AL, John and Mary James, Gadsden, AL, Pastor Thyris and Lady KiShawn Banks, Lincoln, AL; her adopted Greater Ebenezer Church family, and a host of great-grands, nieces, nephews, family and friends.

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