Vera M. Crumley

Mrs. Vera M. Crumley, age 94, of Dover, Delaware and formerly of Asheville, North Carolina passed away peacefully on Monday, August 18, 2025 at Dover Place Assisted Living, Dover, Delaware surrounded by her loving family.
Born on December 28, 1930 in Vienna, Austria, Vera was the daughter of Dr. Hans Freivogel and Stefanie Löw-Beer Freivogel. An only child, she was raised in Vienna until age seven when, in the summer of 1938, the family fled Nazi Austria to seek refuge in the United States. They settled in Flushing, Queens in New York City, where Vera grew up ice skating in Kissena Park, riding the subway to Coney Island, attending dances at the YMCA and participating in Quaker youth programs.
In 1949 Vera graduated from Flushing High School where her classmates included her future brother- and sister-in-law, Don Crumley and Betty Kormusis. At a party thrown by Don she met his older brother George, who took an instant interest in Vera and would later become her husband.
In 1953, Vera earned a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Her children were amused to hear that the female students had an earlier curfew than the males; and impressed to learn she had starred in a production of "The Madwoman of Chaillot" and had spent a summer in Mexico learning Spanish and living with a host family on a Quaker-sponsored work program.
Shortly after Vera graduated from college and George from seminary, they were married in the traditional manner of Friends at the Flushing Friends Meeting House and a few weeks later moved into their first parsonage. Vera had to adapt quickly to the unfamiliar role of "minister's wife". Over the next sixteen years they moved three times and had four children: Stephanie, Patty, Nancy, and Donald. Vera loved living in houses with backyards after a childhood in city apartments and always kept vegetable and flower gardens. Gardening gave her deep satisfaction and peaceful solitude not easy to find in a hectic household.
As her children began to leave the nest, Vera increasingly yearned to expand her horizons and have a professional career. In her late forties she began working part time and attending graduate school in the evenings, earning a master's degree in counseling from C. W. Post College of Long Island University.
Vera was a counselor for over ten years for the Nassau County Displaced Homemakers program, which provided training and support for widowed and divorced women trying to enter the workforce for the first time. Vera created and led many workshops, providing invaluable support and skills-coaching to women of all ages and backgrounds.
Vera loved the beach and enjoyed swimming, gardening, reading, singing in church choir, folk dancing, traveling with Elder Hostel, watching movies, and spending time with her ever-expanding family. Her warm smile and outgoing personality accompanied her everywhere.
In 1995, Vera moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where she founded a folk dance group, volunteered at Ten Thousand Villages, was a dedicated member of New Hope Presbyterian Church, and thoroughly appreciated the relaxed pace. She loved Asheville dearly and relished being surrounded by mountains and taking visitors to her favorite places.
In October 2024, Hurricane Helene forced her to leave her beloved home of nearly thirty years. She soon relocated to Dover, Delaware to be near her daughter Patty, who had arranged a respite stay at Dover Place, and where she became a resident in November.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. George W. Crumley, Jr., who passed away in 1992.
Vera will be dearly missed by her four devoted children, Stephanie (Michael) Crumley-Effinger, Patty Hartmannsgruber, Nancy Crumley, and Donald (Sheila) Crumley; her six grandchildren – Sandy, Anna (Stefan), Max (Nairita), Gabriel, Adam (Brittney) and Mary; and eight great grandchildren - Aiden, Ian, Calvin, Konrad, Elias, Noah, Maya, and Nia, seven months old, who Vera met, with great delight, the day before her death. She is also survived by her cousins, Beverly Berens and Carol Lowbeer, her nephew, Neil Crumley, and Betty Crumley, her sister-in-law and friend of eighty years with whom she chatted every evening. They both still remembered every word of their high school song and would occasionally belt it out during the weekly online family gatherings. She is also survived by Jerry Pollack, her lifelong friend from the early days in Vienna.
Vera's family is grateful to Dover Place and its residents for so warmly welcoming her to their community when she arrived in October 2024, bewildered, displaced, and feeling like a refugee again. We will never forget the tender, loving care she received from the staff in her final days. We are also grateful to the Accentcare Hospice team for their support.
Arrangements have been entrusted into the care of Williams Funeral Home and Burial Services. Services will be held at a future date at a location to be determined by the family.
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