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By Mandy Haggerson
For the Clemmons Courier

Jeff Craver grew up in Winston-Salem with his two younger sisters.

Craver enjoyed a childhood filled with sports that included basketball, soccer and football.

“Sports were always a fun way to spend time with friends and to stay active,” Craver said. “When I was in high school at Mt. Tabor, I really enjoyed playing basketball and football. The year that I graduated, we were the first senior class at Mt. Tabor when they reconfigured the school system back in the ’80s.”

When Craver graduated, he headed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I thought that I might do something in the business school,” Craver said. “I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do when I got out of college, but that seemed to make the most sense. I became interested in exploring job opportunities in federal law enforcement, so I focused on getting a degree in criminal justice and psychology.”

Fortunately for Craver, he switched his major because he met his future wife, Amy, in his senior year in psychology class.

After graduating, Craver decided to ultimately go back home.

“I grew up here, and I love this area, so I wanted to make sure I stayed close to family and friends,” Craver said.

The newlyweds were able to find jobs in the area to make that possible.

“I began working in sales with Young Phillips for about five years after college,” Craver said. “What I discovered early on in sales was that I could work hard but also manage my schedule to have a work and family balance.”

The Cravers expanded their family in 1995 with their daughter Hannah. Sons Bond, 25, David, 22, and Hayden, 17, were added to the active and close-knit family.

“As the kids were young and starting to find interests of their own, it was always nice to have a career that allowed me more flexibility to be a part of all their activities,” Craver said. “Whether it was coaching their baseball or basketball team or getting them to a tennis lesson at Bermuda Run with Bill, I loved being there for them.

“My daughter got serious about golf at age 12, and that took up some time also. It was nice when she decided she wanted to play golf in college, and she chose Appalachian State because it made it easier to go see all of her tournaments.”

Bond and David followed in their parents’ footsteps and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Our youngest son will be graduating June 2024, and it’s going to be strange not having anyone at home anymore,” Craver said. “They will have all moved out and living in other cities for work or school, so we always have places to go visit.

“Even though the kids’ schedules have slowed down, I’m still glad that I chose the sales path for my career. I’m at Spry, Inc., in sales and marketing. I get to work with people and companies in our community with their printing, promotional, apparel and creative service needs. I really enjoy working with clients and helping them market and manage their brand.”

When Craver is not spending time with family, he likes to spend time on the golf course.

“Golf is what I really enjoy right now,” Craver said. “I started playing after college, and I would take my kids when they were little. I’m able to play a little more now that the kids are older. It’s different because my whole adult life has been focused on the kids and their activities. Even though they are older, we still try to travel and spend more time with each other.

“We like to travel to Hilton Head, (South Carolina), and we have even started making it to Hawaii over the past few years. My grandparents loved to travel to Hawaii, so that is where we got the interest to travel there. We are actually planning to take the family to Hawaii this August. It’s getting more challenging with everyone’s schedule, but it is something that we enjoy doing together.”