Naomi Kraft Stansbury

Naomi K. “Nome” Stansbury Lakeland – A wonderful life ended on August 14, 2017. Naomi Kraft “Nome” Stansbury passed away in her sleep after a lifetime surrounded by the people who loved her. She was born on April 28, 1930, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of Jean and William Kraft and attended Indiana University Bloomington. She moved with her mother, Jean and step-father, David Demree, to Key West, Florida in 1954. It was there she met and married naval officer George L. Stansbury on August 6, 1955. They were married 62 years. She was a wife, mother and homemaker, moving over twenty times during her husband’s naval career. They lived in Athens, GA; Mystic, CT; Norfolk, VA; Mechanicsburg, PA; Monterey, CA; Honolulu, HI; Pensacola, FL; Charleston, SC; and Newport, RI. They returned often to Ft. Myers Beach where Nome lived with her children and mother-in-law for a year while George was in Vietnam. After her husband’s retirement, they traveled extensively to five different continents and numerous countries including multiple trips to China, Hong Kong, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ecuador, and Russia. Nome volunteered at Talbot House and as a Pink Lady at Lakeland Memorial Hospital. She was a member of St. St. David’s Episcopal Church for forty years. Her many artistic talents included flower arranging , cake decorating and creating handmade cards including origami, iris folding, stamping and making her own paper. She visited Hotan in the Western province of Zinjian China where paper was first made and studied the process. She enjoyed sharing her love of raising Monarch butterflies. Her children and grandchildren were always a source of joy and pride. She is survived by her husband, George L. Stansbury III (Lakeland), three sons and their wives: George L. Stansbury IV (Naples), John W. Stansbury and wife Dena (Manassas, Virginia), James Stansbury and wife Alyce Lee (Tallahassee) and grandchildren Thomas, Leah and John William along with her brother Donald Demree (Naples). In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to St. David’s Episcopal Church, Lakeland, FL where services will be held Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 3:00 pm. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.heathfuneralchapel.com