Craig R. Wyant Memorial Bench

Hi there! My name is Morgan DePue, a long-time friend and adopted relative of landscape architect, artist, devoted supporter of local NC businesses and crafts, and tireless steward of the earth Craig R. Wyant. Over the past year and a half, I have worked with Forrest Chambless and the Craig R. Wyant Memorial Group on a memorial project for Craig, who passed away in August 2020.

The group convened to consider ways to honor Craig's life and legacy of environmental stewardship. Craig helped found and served on the boards of numerous environmental groups in North Carolina and made it his life’s work to craft mindful and resilient environmental designs in North Carolina and beyond. Craig's planning and designs were instrumental to creating the National Whitewater Center, Rankin Lake Park's redesign, and Jetton Park's restoration. He also helped with many of the state's larger thread trail projects. Knowing this invisible yet impactful mark Craig left, and his dedication to Lincoln County, North Carolina, the memorial group decided a bench on the Lincoln County Rail Trail in a more rural location would be a quiet, peaceful, and beautiful way to honor this humble, gentle soul. This fundraiser will help us pay for the custom bench to honor Craig and cover fundraising costs.

The bench will be created by Hartcrafters of Lincolnton to honor Craig's love of Lincoln County and his dedication to local art and businesses. The back of the bench will have a silhouetted wildlife scene, including local fauna and opossums. Opossums held a special place in Craig's heart because he and his beloved late wife Devona raised a passel of orphaned opossums during their time as certified NC wildlife rehabbers. This artistic bench will endure the weather while adding beauty to the forested landscape. It will offer a place for those who knew and loved Craig to visit and honor him, and it will allow those whose lives were impacted by his designs to learn about this wonderful person's role in NC environmental stewardship. The bench will be dedicated to both Craig and Devona Wyant because their paths are forever entwined.

Should we exceed the fundraising goal amount, additional funds will be used for a small dedication gathering after the bench is installed. Any excess will be donated to Carolina Thread Trail Conservancy, the organization that has approved the bench location.

A bit more about Craig and Devona Wyant:

Craig owned and operated A Fine Line Design and worked on landscape architecture and environmental projects around the globe, from Epcot to Mexico. He and Devona had a deep love for wildlife and always stopped to move critters across the road. In fact, the only time I ever saw Craig upset in over a decade of friendship was when he stopped to help a turtle cross the road but a car struck the turtle before he could get to it. That's a kind of tenderness, love, and kindness that is rare and ever more precious for that rarity. Both had a passion for justice and equity and they would quietly and privately donate time, money, and supplies to local and national charities. Craig and Devona shared the kind of love most of us only dream about, to the point that he stopped at nothing to get some of Devona's ashes to France upon her passing, helping his francophile fulfill a lifelong dream of travelling to France. Craig was affectionately known as the roadie for Poetry Lincolnton, a traveling poetry troupe based in Lincolnton and co-founded by Devona, a featured poet of the troupe. These are just the smallest snippets of full, beautiful, generous lives lived by the folks we aim to honor with this bench. If you feel compelled to donate to this cause, please share one of your stories about Craig and/or Devona in the comments.

Thank you for your interest in the memorial for Craig. Thank you for your donation to help us honor him. Thank you for sharing the gofundme. Thank you for your kindness, love, and time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.