
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993                   TAG: 9312300091
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LAST REQUEST HELPS OTHERS IMPROVE LIVES

A Bedford man who lived a quiet life in retirement, tending his goats and mowing his lawn, made a quiet impact on the lives of others, even in death.

Albert Croft, 74, died Dec. 10. He left word for friends and neighbors to donate money to help others instead of buying flowers.

Carol Bradd, who lives across the street from the Croft residence, said Croft was not well-known by his neighbors in the quiet residential area, but his smile, his wave and the smell of his pipe will be missed.

Croft "left this life as he had lived in our neighborhood," Bradd said. "Very calmly and quietly."

According to Bradd, he died at home with one of his beloved cats curled up in his lap.

Croft's neighbors on Forest Drive did as he wished. Organized by Bradd, they gathered together and contributed in his memory to the Good Neighbors Fund.

"We agreed to this years ago," said Croft's widow, Frances H. Croft. "That it's better to help the living."

by CNB