City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Alice Cook Batson

Durham, North Carolina

Age 97.
Died 01/15/2024.

Alice Cook Batson
Alice Cook Batson
July 22, 1926 – January 15, 2024

Alice Cook Batson passed away peacefully on January 15, 2024 surrounded by her loving family. She was 97 years old. Family and friends will remember her as a gracious and capable woman with a fun-loving attitude and great sense of humor.

Alice Claire Cook was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, FL at a time when that area was truly a tropical paradise, and lived there until she graduated from the University of Miami with a full scholarship. Growing up, she was active in dance and enjoyed bonfires on the beach with
friends. She met Walter Kelly Batson when she coached him for a late WWII USO show (he was one of the naval officers can-can dancers!) and they were married in 1950. After marriage, Kelly’s work took them to various locations in NC, including Charlotte and Asheboro where they
raised four children. After Kelly’s death in 1985, Alice settled in Cary, NC.

Alice had a long career, working as a CPA for local and regional accounting firms where she specialized in municipal audits and tax consulting. In her early career she fought an uphill battle as a woman in a then male-dominated profession. She was only the second woman in the state of Florida to pass the CPA exam and was often told that “pretty women did not go into business”. She was determined to prove them wrong – and did! Once her children were older, Alice became very active in community and church service organizations. As a long-time member of the Cary Pilot Club she held local and state leadership positions and was a wizard at organizing catering events to fund charitable projects. She volunteered for many years (over 4000 hours) in the Rex Hospital Gift Shop, handling bookkeeping and finding joy in helping new grandparents buy that special gift for a new arrival. In addition, she assisted with the Wake County Lifesaver program and was active in the First United Methodist Church of Cary.

Despite her accomplishments, Alice will primarily be remembered for her full circle of friends and active lifestyle. She enjoyed participating in several bridge clubs, playing canasta and other card games with friends and going on church outings. She was fortunate to have dear friends,
including her beloved “Rubies” ladies, her Circle Group at church, her godchildren, and neighbors and staff at Woodland Terrace and Carolina Reserve of Durham. Alice enjoyed traveling with family and friends and was a delightful and adventurous companion. Best of all – she truly knew what it meant to be a good friend and was a great joy to those she loved.

Alice was an adored mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and aunt. She encouraged and supported her children and was always there when they needed her. She reveled in time with her grandsons and great grandson and was thrilled to finally get a baby girl in the family when
her great granddaughter was born. She is survived by sons David Batson (Nancy) and Alan Batson and by daughters Gail Fowler and Linda English (Bob), grandsons Miles Batson, Grant Fowler (Pier), Virgil English, and David Fowler (Emma), great grandchildren Calvin and Avery Fowler, and many loving nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Walter Kelly Batson and son-in-law Thomas Land Fowler.

A memorial and celebration of life service will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday February 17 at the First United Methodist Church of Cary, located at 117 South Academy Street, Cary, NC, 27511. A reception will follow in the church fellowship hall. Friends and family are encouraged to wear something green (Alice’s favorite color).

In lieu of flowers the family requests that you contribute to the Caregivers Appreciation Fund at Carolina Reserve of Durham, 4523 Hope Valley Rd. Durham, NC 27707 or to a favorite charity of your choice.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


You can share this obituary using the following address, or click the button below to share on Facebook.

City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

icon
Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

icon
Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

icon
Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

icon
Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

icon
Traditional Funeral

$6081.48

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

icon
Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

icon
Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations