Letha Arvala Crom

Letha Arvala Crom
Letha Crom passed away peacefully on January 29, 2025. Born March 10, 1932 to Alva and Zella Wilson in the Globeville neighborhood in Denver, Letha was the fourth of six children. The family included her two older brothers and sister, Lindsay, Wilbur, and Mildred, and her two younger sisters, Marianne and Lorene.
The Wilson family relocated to a farm near Cornish, CO when Letha was 10 years of age. The farm had been purchased by her older brother, Lindsay, prior to enlisting and serving overseas in the military. Letha soon adapted to country life, attending school at Cornish through the 8th grade and learning to drive her father's team of plow horses. As a teenager Letha loved working in a soda shop in downtown Greeley, where she likely developed her lifelong sweet tooth.
After meeting her future husband, Leon Crom, the couple married in Greeley on February 27, 1949. Soon afterward the couple moved to Ault and then Pierce where they lived and farmed for several years while raising their four sons, Kenneth, Ricky, Gale and Keith. As a mother Letha was active in the Pierce community, with the Highland schools and the local CSU extension club. She volunteered as a Cub Scout den mother, encouraging and supporting her sons to continue in Scouting towards earning their Eagle Scout badges. She attended numerous meetings and workshops to learn about craft projects that she shared with her scouts. During this same period, she waitressed at the Green & White café in Ault, assisted June Groves in Eaton as a caterer, and then went on to work in Greeley for the kitchens at Fairacres Nursing Home and Toby Kendel Hall at UNC.
In 1967 Leon and Letha started Crom's Carpet Center in Evans, CO, making countless acquaintances and friends through their decades in the business. In the mid 80's they relocated their flooring business to Fairplay, CO where they ran the Gold Panner gift shop as a side business. This was also about the time that the couple began their annual journeys to various locations in Arizona and southern California, joining Letha's brothers, sister and their spouses to soak up the winter desert sun with fellow snowbirds. These trips led to their adventures as fulltime RVer's. In 2002 health issues brought the couple back to Greeley where they took up residence at the Birchwood Apartments, enjoying the weekly bingo games and other activities with fellow residents. After Leon's death in 2004 Letha remained at Birchwood until relocating to Fairacres Manor in Greeley in late December 2024.
During their life together Letha and Leon spent countless hours camping, fishing, snowmobiling, vacationing, and making trips to Blackhawk and Central City with their children, relatives and friends. Letha delighted in sitting in the sun outside their camper enjoying the wildflowers and loved watching the hummingbirds visit their feeders. Family life was a priority, as attested by the endless array of family picnics, birthday parties, holiday dinners and various get-togethers. The family still talks about the surprise Dutch hop her children hosted in 1989 in Gill, CO for Letha and Leon's 40th wedding anniversary.
Letha was preceded in death by Leon, her husband of 52 years, one son, Gale, her brothers Linday and Wilbur, and sister Mildred. She is survived by her three remaining sons and their wives- Kenneth and Linda Crom of Colorado Springs, Ricky and Nansi Crom of Pierce, Keith and Trudy Crom of Caldwell, TX, and daughter-in-law Sue Crom of Reidsville, NC. Also surviving are two sisters- Marianne Croissant of Westminster, CO and Lorene Achziger of Loveland, CO, and a beloved sister-in-law Ruth Wilson of Galeton, CO. Letha's legacy will continue through her four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held on February 10, 2025 at 10:30 A.M. at Adamsons Life Celebration Home of Life in Greeley, CO. Interment will be at Eaton Cemetery in Eaton, CO.