Betty Joanne Crews

Betty Jo Crews Betty Joanne Crews (née Anderson), of Golden Valley, Minnesota, passed away in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, on February 6, 2021, at the age of 94. Betty was born at home in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on July 22, 1926. She graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1944, and for the next couple of years, her occupations involved processing Hollerith cards and chickens. Feeling footloose and the need for change, she and cousin Lela made an eventful train journey to Denver, where Betty met Ralph Wilson Crews, an Air Force officer who served in Europe during the war. Their odyssey began. Betty and Ralph married in 1947 and welcomed five children within the next eight years. They also steadily relocated around the country: Denver, El Paso, Alamogordo, Chicago, Dayton, Los Angeles (twice), and Cheyenne. The family of seven eventually set up permanent housekeeping in Golden Valley in 1965. Betty and Ralph became honored volunteers in their new community, supporting Cub Scouts, Brownies, Girl Scouts, the Methodist Church, Aquatennial, and the Golden Valley Historical Society. Betty was especially passionate about the needs of Native Americans, establishing an ongoing bond between her church and the Division of Indian Work. Betty hoped to be remembered as a good neighbor. She was that and much more. Betty inherited Scandinavian spirit and bootstrap endurance. Her ancestors hailed from the Swedish farmland of Värmland and Härjedalen. Betty’s middle name honors her great-grandfather (John Magnus Johnson) and her grandmother (Hannah Larson), who cultivated the rich landscape near Holmes City, Minnesota. Betty planted her own garden wherever she lived, generously sharing zucchini and rhubarb with family and friends. She prescribed a singular, lifelong therapy for any challenge: just pull a few more weeds. There were challenges. Her father endured TB and had to live away from the family for two years at a sanatorium; scarlet fever damaged Betty’s hearing; her brother flew combat missions in the Pacific; the family rationed food and goods during the war. There were joys. Betty would escape by streetcar to downtown Minneapolis for concerts by Spike Jones, Tommy Dorsey, and Duke Ellington. Later, with five kids and a dog, Ralph and Betty drove a packed station wagon on most trips, and they eventually visited all 50 states. She loved the adventure and her family. Betty is predeceased by Ralph, her husband of 66 years, her parents, Ruben and Amanda Anderson, her brother, Wayne Anderson, and her son, Richard Wayne Crews. She is survived by four children: Mary Amanda “Mandy” Heard (Don), Jean Elizabeth “Betsy” Carnahan (Jim), Stephen Walter Crews, and Kenneth Donald Crews (Elizabeth). She was a reliable fount of love and cookies to nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Donations to honor the memory of Betty Jo Crews may be made to Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church (https://spiritofhopeumc.org/) or to the Division of Indian Work (https://www.diw-mn.org/). Graveside services were private. Arrangements were made through Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels, and the family may be contacted at the website (https://www.washburn-mcreavy.com/). Many thanks to the staffs of Grace Edgewood and Chippewa Manor in Wisconsin for their loving care. Special thanks to Rosario Delgadillo and Lorraine Kosakowski for the devoted attention they gave Betty through recent years.

Tributes

Betty Joanne Crews

July 22, 1926 - February 6, 2021

Tributes

Betty Joanne Crews

July 22, 1926 - February 6, 2021

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