Fredna McKnight Crain, 81 of Hildebran, NC passed away, Tuesday, December 16, 2025. Born on March 21, 1944, she was the daughter of the late Fred and Vera McKnight. Fredna was a member of New Covenant Church of God. She loved putting puzzles together, playing games with her family, spending time with her grandchildren, and reading her Bible on a daily basis. Fredna loved her family dearly.
Fredna is survived by her sons, Toby Crain (April), Tim Crain (Ashley); 6 grandchildren, Dakota Crain (Cassie), Tyler Crain (Brianna), Kyra Crain, Sarah Crain, Cole Crain, Bryson Crain; sister Ravena Street; step-sons, Randy Crain, Chris Crain (Tara); step-daughter, Nancy Piercy (Johnny).
In addition to her parents, Fredna was preceded in death by her husband, John Otis Crain, Jr.; step-daughter, Phala Crain.
The family will receive friends from 2pm until 3pm, Sunday, December 21, 2025 at Sossoman Funeral Home. A funeral will be held in the Colonial Chapel of the funeral home at 3pm with Bishop Dennis Pitts officiating. Burial will follow at Burke Memorial Park.
Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.
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My sincere sympathy to Toby and Timmy and their families. Losing a Mom is so hard...she was a special lady with a ready smile and loving heart. She will be missed by all who knew her. God grant you peace in knowing you'll. see her again
My condolence to Toby and Tim for loss MOM. She was a friendly and nice person. She is a better place with Jesus Christ now. May God comforts all Fredna's two sons, grandchildren, friends, and deaf community. Love in Christ..... Carla Cannon
Mama, With each passing day, it seems less and less likely that this is a dream that I’m going to wake up from. How can this be reality? You were doing so good in the hospital, and a nurse assured me that you were improving, but a few days later, on Tuesday night, I learned that this situation was far more serious than I realized. I mean how could you be getting worse when I was hoping you would be home by Christmas Eve. I believed in my heart that you were going to be ok. The plan was for you to improve to the point that you would be leaving the ICU to move to another room, and then after that, you would move to a regular hospital room. So, how can it be that your funeral is scheduled for tomorrow? I don’t know if I can handle seeing you in a coffin. How am I going to function during your funeral? Please, let me wake up from this dream so that I can drive to Trinity Ridge to give you a hug and to tell you how much I truly love you. It’s hard for me to live in this reality knowing that you will not text me anymore to say “I love you always.” I have cried and struggled so much. I don’t like this pain. I want it to stop. I want you back! I realize that as Christians we can trust the Bible. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” To be present with the Lord, is to be made whole. I realize that means that you are now not experiencing any sickness or pain, but I’m so selfish that if I could push a button to have you back here, I probably would. As I am typing this on a Word document in order to copy and paste my feelings onto the Sossman website, I went online and just saw for the first time, your online obituary. It caused me to cry again and to experience that pain once more that I cannot describe! I want to wake up from this heart wrenching dream that I am experiencing. I want to hold you not just one more time but many more times. I am very thankful that I was able to hold your hand those final moments. I don’t know how long it was. I just know that I remember your grip on my hand, but eventually the monitored displayed that your heart rate was zero, and I didn’t handle that as well as I should have. Your heart rate, that was elevated for so much time while in the ICU, now displayed 0. The feelings that overtook me were so immense that I honestly didn’t know what to do. I mean how does a person plan for that? The hurt was too much. I didn’t want to let you go. I wanted you to stay with me, and now I want to see you and love on you again more than I can explain. Mama, I miss you very much. I love you very much. I love you always!
I know Fredna is in Heaven with our Daddy How they both will be rejoicing.
I was so glad to get to know Fredna. She has been my mom‘s roommate for this last year. What a lovely person! I loved her enthusiasm and her independence and her positive attitude!!! I just can’t believe she is gone! I was hoping to have more years to get to know her better. She is now celebrating with her family and Christ in heaven.
My condolences Tim to you and your family. Jean
Fredna touched anyone she met even at 47 years of age I can't think of anyone else who could put a smile on your face and love in your heart! May you Rest In Peace and walk on the streets of gold with our Lord Almighty sending prayers and love!
My deepest sympathies for your families loss. I hate that I am unable to pay my respects in person but please know that I enjoyed getting to know Fredna these last seven and half years. I use to tease her that I was going to give her a speeding ticket for going to fast in the hallways. She is missed already. Thank you for sharing her with us.
Toby and family, May God’s peace, which is above all understanding, comfort your heart and guard your mind during this difficult time. You are in our prayers.