Alice Fay Cranston

Alice Faye Cranston, 78, of Kansas City, MO passed away March 17, 2019. Funeral services will be held at 6:00pm Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at Heartland Cremation & Burial Society, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown, MO 64133. Visitation will be held at 5:00pm Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at Heartland Cremation & Burial Society, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown, MO 64133.

Mrs. Cranston was born April 11, 1940 in St. James, Missouri. Her parents Eva and John Leonard Bell raised Alice in St. James where she lived with her sisters Sylvia and Ann.

Alice accepted Christ into her life at the young age of 8 years old. She graduated St. James High School and then attended School of the Ozarks and Southwest Missouri State for her Bachelor’s degrees in Voice and Education. She earned a Master’s in Music from the University of Arkansas. Alice raised her seven children in Zion, Illinois where she was an active member and Choir Director of the First Baptist Church of Zion.

Alice spent her adult life serving as Choir Director and then, once receiving an additional Master’s from the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, became both Minister of Music and Minster of Education for several churches in the greater Kansas City area. She lived her life as a servant of the Lord, instilling her faith and love of music in everyone she touched. Her voice was a God given gift and her life was spent sharing this gift with the world.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Thusa and Peter Deisher and Lucinda and John Henry Bell, parents of Eva and J. Leonard Bell, her sister Eileen Durbin-Ayers, her brother Paul Bell, her son Keith Cranston, and her granddaughter Rachael Coulman.

She leaves to honor her memory – six children, Rebecca Bell-Houchin (Farron), Karla Cranston, Yvonne Cranston, Sharon Shanks, David Cranston and Michael Cranston, her siblings Vivian Clemons, Evelyn Wand, Syliva Tay and Ann Saad, her 8 grandchildren and many
nieces and nephews.