BAIRD — Alta Lavern Crawford, 92, will be remembered as a devoted wife, a loving mother and a faithful servant working as a registered surgical nurse for 42 years.
This is her origin story and a tribute to a beautiful life well lived. She was born in a rural home in River Camp located in Childress County, Texas. Her parents, Elmer Leland and Oma Fay Mullins named her, Alta Lavern Mullins. Those closest to her know that she went by Lavern not Alta and you never spelled Lavern with an “e” at the end. We will all remember her flowery, grand cursive signature.
A child of the Great Depression, Lavern learned hard work, thriftiness and also worry from those days growing up on the Red River farm. However, her parents were self-sufficient and the family never went hungry. She said the table was loaded with produce from the garden and meat from animals raised on the farm.
In 1936, Lavern boarded her first train with her sister, Norene, waved goodbye to her parents and traveled to Dallas for the Texas Centennial Celebration. She secretly thought her new red hat was the prettiest, but confessed that “Norene’s bronze hat was decorated with a big feather and looked real smart.”
Lavern graduated from Childress High School in 1941. In a time when the country was in desperate need for nurses, she abandoned her dream to be a school teacher and went to Amarillo to attend Northwest Texas Nursing School in 1942. She graduated in 1945 as World War II was coming to an end and did not get to serve as an army nurse.
In 1947, Lavern once again boarded a train but this time she was all on her own. She traveled to New York City to study Operating Room Techniques and Management at Cornell Medical School. She carried her possessions and her typewriter in a steamer trunk.
Lavern enjoyed her 42 year career as a surgical nurse. She found it fulfilling despite the inherent demands and challenges. She helped so many people. We couldn’t go to the grocery store or a restaurant without someone coming up to thank her for caring for them in the hospital. She will be truly remembered as a faithful servant. Her family will also remember her coming home tired, hair askew and smelling of ether from battling the old-fashioned autoclave.
She met the love of her life, Melvin Crawford, in Morton, Texas. She loved being a coach’s wife sitting on the 50-yard line fussing at the referees. She typed his doctoral thesis on a manual typewriter. Lavern followed him faithfully through frequent moves post retirement.
Lavern described herself as a self-made quilter, a hobby that she enjoyed during retirement. She developed her own technique, “one stitch at a time.” We will cherish her beautiful quilts as extensions of her joyful personality.
We will all miss the comfort food that she lovingly prepared for us. Every Saturday she made a pot of brown beans and cornbread and we all loved her heavenly coconut cream pie piled high with meringue.
This sweet lady loved songbirds and hummingbirds. Her favorite flower was white daisies. She frequently visited the library and was always reading several different books at a time. Lavern loved to laugh with the antics of Erma Bombeck and Lucille Ball. She loved a romantic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music, Oklahoma! South Pacific or My Fair Lady.
Her favorite possession was an old Methodist Hymnal that had been “cast off” and replaced with a newer edition. It was a treasure to Lavern because it contained the hymns that her mother would sing while working on the farm. She felt that each hymn was a precious “keepsake.” This legacy of song continues as we also remember Lavern humming “Come Thy Fount” while washing the dishes or singing “This is My Father’s World” at the top of her lungs while driving our surly teenage bodies to church. Her greatest legacy was her love for the Lord and service to her family and community.
Lavern is survived by two daughters: Joan Leigh Crawford of Bastrop, and Jill Addison-Needles of Pflugerville; sister-in-law: Dorothe Mullins of Haltom City; three grandkids: Dylan Crawford Schmidt, Emily Needles and James Addison and wife Kathy; and two nieces: Sherry Flanigan and Judy Franco.
She was preceded in death by her husband: Melvin M. Crawford, sister: Norene Cline and two brothers: Elmer Mullins Jr. and Cleon Mullins.
This is her origin story and a tribute to a beautiful life well lived. She was born in a rural home in River Camp located in Childress County, Texas. Her parents, Elmer Leland and Oma Fay Mullins named her, Alta Lavern Mullins. Those closest to her know that she went by Lavern not Alta and you never spelled Lavern with an “e” at the end. We will all remember her flowery, grand cursive signature.
A child of the Great Depression, Lavern learned hard work, thriftiness and also worry from those days growing up on the Red River farm. However, her parents were self-sufficient and the family never went hungry. She said the table was loaded with produce from the garden and meat from animals raised on the farm.
In 1936, Lavern boarded her first train with her sister, Norene, waved goodbye to her parents and traveled to Dallas for the Texas Centennial Celebration. She secretly thought her new red hat was the prettiest, but confessed that “Norene’s bronze hat was decorated with a big feather and looked real smart.”
Lavern graduated from Childress High School in 1941. In a time when the country was in desperate need for nurses, she abandoned her dream to be a school teacher and went to Amarillo to attend Northwest Texas Nursing School in 1942. She graduated in 1945 as World War II was coming to an end and did not get to serve as an army nurse.
In 1947, Lavern once again boarded a train but this time she was all on her own. She traveled to New York City to study Operating Room Techniques and Management at Cornell Medical School. She carried her possessions and her typewriter in a steamer trunk.
Lavern enjoyed her 42 year career as a surgical nurse. She found it fulfilling despite the inherent demands and challenges. She helped so many people. We couldn’t go to the grocery store or a restaurant without someone coming up to thank her for caring for them in the hospital. She will be truly remembered as a faithful servant. Her family will also remember her coming home tired, hair askew and smelling of ether from battling the old-fashioned autoclave.
She met the love of her life, Melvin Crawford, in Morton, Texas. She loved being a coach’s wife sitting on the 50-yard line fussing at the referees. She typed his doctoral thesis on a manual typewriter. Lavern followed him faithfully through frequent moves post retirement.
Lavern described herself as a self-made quilter, a hobby that she enjoyed during retirement. She developed her own technique, “one stitch at a time.” We will cherish her beautiful quilts as extensions of her joyful personality.
We will all miss the comfort food that she lovingly prepared for us. Every Saturday she made a pot of brown beans and cornbread and we all loved her heavenly coconut cream pie piled high with meringue.
This sweet lady loved songbirds and hummingbirds. Her favorite flower was white daisies. She frequently visited the library and was always reading several different books at a time. Lavern loved to laugh with the antics of Erma Bombeck and Lucille Ball. She loved a romantic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music, Oklahoma! South Pacific or My Fair Lady.
Her favorite possession was an old Methodist Hymnal that had been “cast off” and replaced with a newer edition. It was a treasure to Lavern because it contained the hymns that her mother would sing while working on the farm. She felt that each hymn was a precious “keepsake.” This legacy of song continues as we also remember Lavern humming “Come Thy Fount” while washing the dishes or singing “This is My Father’s World” at the top of her lungs while driving our surly teenage bodies to church. Her greatest legacy was her love for the Lord and service to her family and community.
Lavern is survived by two daughters: Joan Leigh Crawford of Bastrop, and Jill Addison-Needles of Pflugerville; sister-in-law: Dorothe Mullins of Haltom City; three grandkids: Dylan Crawford Schmidt, Emily Needles and James Addison and wife Kathy; and two nieces: Sherry Flanigan and Judy Franco.
She was preceded in death by her husband: Melvin M. Crawford, sister: Norene Cline and two brothers: Elmer Mullins Jr. and Cleon Mullins.
BAIRD — Alta Lavern Crawford, 92, will be remembered as a devoted wife, a loving mother and a faithful servant working as a registered surgical nurse for 42 years.
This is her origin story and a tribute to a beautiful life well lived. She was born in a rural home in River Camp located in Childress County, Texas. Her parents, Elmer Leland and Oma Fay Mullins named her, Alta Lavern Mullins. Those closest to her know that she went by Lavern not Alta and you never spelled Lavern with an “e” at the end. We will all remember her flowery, grand cursive signature.
A child of the Great Depression, Lavern learned hard work, thriftiness and also worry from those days growing up on the Red River farm. However, her parents were self-sufficient and the family never went hungry. She said the table was loaded with produce from the garden and meat from animals raised on the farm.
In 1936, Lavern boarded her first train with her sister, Norene, waved goodbye to her parents and traveled to Dallas for the Texas Centennial Celebration. She secretly thought her new red hat was the prettiest, but confessed that “Norene’s bronze hat was decorated with a big feather and looked real smart.”
Lavern graduated from Childress High School in 1941. In a time when the country was in desperate need for nurses, she abandoned her dream to be a school teacher and went to Amarillo to attend Northwest Texas Nursing School in 1942. She graduated in 1945 as World War II was coming to an end and did not get to serve as an army nurse.
In 1947, Lavern once again boarded a train but this time she was all on her own. She traveled to New York City to study Operating Room Techniques and Management at Cornell Medical School. She carried her possessions and her typewriter in a steamer trunk.
Lavern enjoyed her 42 year career as a surgical nurse. She found it fulfilling despite the inherent demands and challenges. She helped so many people. We couldn’t go to the grocery store or a restaurant without someone coming up to thank her for caring for them in the hospital. She will be truly remembered as a faithful servant. Her family will also remember her coming home tired, hair askew and smelling of ether from battling the old-fashioned autoclave.
She met the love of her life, Melvin Crawford, in Morton, Texas. She loved being a coach’s wife sitting on the 50-yard line fussing at the referees. She typed his doctoral thesis on a manual typewriter. Lavern followed him faithfully through frequent moves post retirement.
Lavern described herself as a self-made quilter, a hobby that she enjoyed during retirement. She developed her own technique, “one stitch at a time.” We will cherish her beautiful quilts as extensions of her joyful personality.
We will all miss the comfort food that she lovingly prepared for us. Every Saturday she made a pot of brown beans and cornbread and we all loved her heavenly coconut cream pie piled high with meringue.
This sweet lady loved songbirds and hummingbirds. Her favorite flower was white daisies. She frequently visited the library and was always reading several different books at a time. Lavern loved to laugh with the antics of Erma Bombeck and Lucille Ball. She loved a romantic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music, Oklahoma! South Pacific or My Fair Lady.
Her favorite possession was an old Methodist Hymnal that had been “cast off” and replaced with a newer edition. It was a treasure to Lavern because it contained the hymns that her mother would sing while working on the farm. She felt that each hymn was a precious “keepsake.” This legacy of song continues as we also remember Lavern humming “Come Thy Fount” while washing the dishes or singing “This is My Father’s World” at the top of her lungs while driving our surly teenage bodies to church. Her greatest legacy was her love for the Lord and service to her family and community.
Lavern is survived by two daughters: Joan Leigh Crawford of Bastrop, and Jill Addison-Needles of Pflugerville; sister-in-law: Dorothe Mullins of Haltom City; three grandkids: Dylan Crawford Schmidt, Emily Needles and James Addison and wife Kathy; and two nieces: Sherry Flanigan and Judy Franco.
She was preceded in death by her husband: Melvin M. Crawford, sister: Norene Cline and two brothers: Elmer Mullins Jr. and Cleon Mullins.
This is her origin story and a tribute to a beautiful life well lived. She was born in a rural home in River Camp located in Childress County, Texas. Her parents, Elmer Leland and Oma Fay Mullins named her, Alta Lavern Mullins. Those closest to her know that she went by Lavern not Alta and you never spelled Lavern with an “e” at the end. We will all remember her flowery, grand cursive signature.
A child of the Great Depression, Lavern learned hard work, thriftiness and also worry from those days growing up on the Red River farm. However, her parents were self-sufficient and the family never went hungry. She said the table was loaded with produce from the garden and meat from animals raised on the farm.
In 1936, Lavern boarded her first train with her sister, Norene, waved goodbye to her parents and traveled to Dallas for the Texas Centennial Celebration. She secretly thought her new red hat was the prettiest, but confessed that “Norene’s bronze hat was decorated with a big feather and looked real smart.”
Lavern graduated from Childress High School in 1941. In a time when the country was in desperate need for nurses, she abandoned her dream to be a school teacher and went to Amarillo to attend Northwest Texas Nursing School in 1942. She graduated in 1945 as World War II was coming to an end and did not get to serve as an army nurse.
In 1947, Lavern once again boarded a train but this time she was all on her own. She traveled to New York City to study Operating Room Techniques and Management at Cornell Medical School. She carried her possessions and her typewriter in a steamer trunk.
Lavern enjoyed her 42 year career as a surgical nurse. She found it fulfilling despite the inherent demands and challenges. She helped so many people. We couldn’t go to the grocery store or a restaurant without someone coming up to thank her for caring for them in the hospital. She will be truly remembered as a faithful servant. Her family will also remember her coming home tired, hair askew and smelling of ether from battling the old-fashioned autoclave.
She met the love of her life, Melvin Crawford, in Morton, Texas. She loved being a coach’s wife sitting on the 50-yard line fussing at the referees. She typed his doctoral thesis on a manual typewriter. Lavern followed him faithfully through frequent moves post retirement.
Lavern described herself as a self-made quilter, a hobby that she enjoyed during retirement. She developed her own technique, “one stitch at a time.” We will cherish her beautiful quilts as extensions of her joyful personality.
We will all miss the comfort food that she lovingly prepared for us. Every Saturday she made a pot of brown beans and cornbread and we all loved her heavenly coconut cream pie piled high with meringue.
This sweet lady loved songbirds and hummingbirds. Her favorite flower was white daisies. She frequently visited the library and was always reading several different books at a time. Lavern loved to laugh with the antics of Erma Bombeck and Lucille Ball. She loved a romantic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music, Oklahoma! South Pacific or My Fair Lady.
Her favorite possession was an old Methodist Hymnal that had been “cast off” and replaced with a newer edition. It was a treasure to Lavern because it contained the hymns that her mother would sing while working on the farm. She felt that each hymn was a precious “keepsake.” This legacy of song continues as we also remember Lavern humming “Come Thy Fount” while washing the dishes or singing “This is My Father’s World” at the top of her lungs while driving our surly teenage bodies to church. Her greatest legacy was her love for the Lord and service to her family and community.
Lavern is survived by two daughters: Joan Leigh Crawford of Bastrop, and Jill Addison-Needles of Pflugerville; sister-in-law: Dorothe Mullins of Haltom City; three grandkids: Dylan Crawford Schmidt, Emily Needles and James Addison and wife Kathy; and two nieces: Sherry Flanigan and Judy Franco.
She was preceded in death by her husband: Melvin M. Crawford, sister: Norene Cline and two brothers: Elmer Mullins Jr. and Cleon Mullins.
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