CRAWFORD, Helen Catherine

The Arizona Daily Star, August 25, 2006 CRAWFORD, Helen Catherine (Reese) of Sherwood Oaks, Cranberry Township, PA, died August 23, 2006 (exactly 10 years to the day after the death of her husband), aged 85. She was born July 28, 1921 at Kittanning, PA, the daughter of Samuel Wilson and Effie Mary (King) Reese. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Thiel College at a time when very few women majored in that subject. After college, she worked at Gulf Oil in Harmarville, PA, where she met her husband, Vincent Leon Crawford. They were married on June 7, 1944 in Kittanning. In 1955, Vince went to live in Saudi Arabia, where he worked for the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco, now Saudi Aramco), for 21 years, and in 1956, Helen and their two children joined him there. Vince took the job because they wanted to travel, and travel they did, visiting most of the countries in Europe and many in Asia and Africa. As a result of their travels, Helen became a gourmet cook, learning the recipes of many countries, but finally specializing in Chinese cooking. She also expanded on her lifetime interest in needlework, traveling to London to take classes at the Embroiders Guild. She became a mistress of many types of embroidery, including metalwork, hardanger, and ribbon embroidery. She shared what she learned by teaching classes, and rejoicing in her student's accomplishments. In Arabia, Helen also became a teacher, working first in a nursery school, and then at a school Aramco ran to teach high school level courses to Saudi employees, where she taught English, math, and chemistry. Helen and Vince retired in 1976 to Tucson, AZ, where Helen became involved with The West, a highclass needlework and gift shop run by volunteers to raise money for women's and children's charities. For ten years of her time working at The West, Helen was chair or co-chair of the needlework department, and she also taught classes in various types of needlework. By the time she "retired" from volunteering at The West, she had the second longest period of activity there of any volunteer. After Vince's death on August 22, 1996, the members of The West were her second family and support group. In 2005, Helen decided to move to Sherwood Oaks, a retirement community near Pittsburgh, to be closer to her daughter. Soon afterward, she was diagnosed with cancer, and following her cancer surgery, she suffered a debilitating stroke. During the last eight months of her life, she was trapped in a crippled body with a damaged brain, waiting to work on needlework, but unable to do so. Her death brings her release from this situation, and we are sure that after she greeted Vince and other deceased loved ones, she started gold work embroidery for angels' wings. For the past ten years, she has wanted to be back with Vince, and now she is. Helen is survived by a son, Alan Crawford, of San Jose, CA; a daughter, Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer and her husband James Oppenheimer, of Hyde Park, NY; two nieces, Dana (Yapp) Billig and her husband, Gary, of Cincinnati and Carol (Yapp) Heider and her husband, William of Kittanning; and a nephew, George Hoffman and his wife, Marilyn, of Solon, OH. Helen also left behind her beloved cat, Topaz, who has lived with Christine since Helen's stroke. Helen was predeceased by her husband, Vincent Leon Crawford; an infant son, Mark Crawford; her sisters, Nellie Effie (Reese) Hoffman and Sarah May (Reese) Yapp, and a niece Eleanor (Hoffman) Eichelman. When family and friends visited her, Helen always said she had decided not to be sad when they left, but to be glad that they had visited, and we know that this is the way she would want us to think of her life. She had a good life, and we should be glad that she is released from her physical woes and is reunited with Vince. A Memorial Service will be held 1100 a.m., Tuesday, August 29, 2006 in the auditorium of Sherwood Oaks, 100 Norman Drive, Cranberry Twp., with James Oppenheimer, M.Div., her son-in-law, officiating. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The West, 5615 River Road, Suite 101, Tucson, AZ 85750. Arrangements are entrusted to Glenn-Kildoo Funeral Home & Cremation Svcs., Inc., 130 Wisconsin Ave., Cranberry Twp