Lou Helen Craddock Arnold-Duke

Lou Helen Craddock Arnold-Duke, 88, of Winter Haven, Florida, passed away Tuesday, August 18, 2020, at Good Shepherd Hospice House in Auburndale, Florida.  She was a member of Calvary Baptist Church, Winter Haven, and a past member of First Baptist Church, Henderson, Kentucky and Forest Park Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky. She was born January 10, 1932, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Thomas Harold Craddock Sr and Myrtle L. Mingle Craddock.  Helen’s father purchased a farm in Christian County, Kentucky, in 1941 and moved the family there.  She graduated from Crofton High School at 17 years old and was a four-year cheerleader.  From there she attended Western Kentucky University and majored in home economics.  She met her first husband, Claude Arnold Jr. and married February 15, 1551.  They had two children, Claudia and Joel Arnold.  In 1955, Helen embarked upon a lifelong career of working for Sears Roebuck & Co.  She started out managing shipping and receiving office for catalog and the store in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In 1962 the family moved to Henderson, Kentucky, where she went back to work for Sears Roebuck & Co. in 1965 when the Henderson Satellite Sears store was opened.  There she set up the catalog department and eventually became the bookkeeper until the Henderson store closed.  She then transferred to the Evansville Washington Square store selling televisions and computers. She retired in 1996.  She met and her second husband, Alton Franklin Duke and married November 3, 1996.  She truly took retirement seriously and moved to Winter Haven, Florida.  She took up golf and eventually became the President of the Cypresswood Ladies’ Golf Club and learned to play duplicate bridge.  In 2005 she became the Homeowners Association’s treasurer where she held that position until her death. She is preceded in death by her first husband, Claude Arnold Jr and her second husband, Alton Duke; son Joel Thomas Arnold; her parents Harold and Myrtle Craddock; brother Thomas Harold Craddock Jr and his wife Joann Hight Craddock; sister Emma Jean Craddock Carter. Survivors include her daughter Claudia Stocking (Joel) of Henderson; two grandchildren, Jonathan Stocking (Leah) of Henderson; Emma Dunn (Jason) of Corydon; four great-grandchildren, Jackson Stocking, Presley Doom, Austin and Andrew Dunn; one brother, Mack (Pete) Craddock (Betty); nephew, Jerry Craddock (Sheila); sisters-in-law, Ester Eastwood and Marcella Cook; cousin, Dorothy Jean Barnett; nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be 11 a.m., Thursday, August 27, at Tomblinson Funeral Home Henderson Chapel.  The Reverend Alan Chamness will officiate.  Entombment will be in Fairmont Cemetery.  Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday and 9-11 a.m. on Thursday at the funeral home. Pallbearers will be Jonathan Stocking, Jason Dunn, Ronnie Young, Jim Stocking, David Hetrick, and Tony Whitledge. The family wishes to express special gratitude to her Dundee Hardee’s family, neighbors Mona and Charlie Anderson, Janet and Harold Jewel, First Baptist PUSH Class, the nursing staff at Winter Haven Hospital and the Good Shepherd George Forsythe Hospice House for the loving care they provided to Miss Lou as she was affectionately called.