Eleanor Harriet Crotty Keasel

Eleanor Harriet Crotty Keasel, a lifelong area resident, died Saturday July 2, 2005 at Orange Regional Medical Center, Arden Hill Campus. She was 89 years old.

The daughter of the late Archie H. and Katherine Schoeweiss Crotty, she was born April 18, 1916 in Crystal Run, Town of Wallkill, at the family home on what is now known as Crotty Road.

At the time of her birth, Crystal Run was merely a collection of small businesses: a creamery, feed store, and post office, just west of Scotchtown Turnpike on the Ontario and Western Railroad (O&W), surrounded by numerous dairy farms.

The Crotty children attended grades one through eight in a one-room school near their home and later attended schools in Middletown and Goshen.

Eleanor and her husband, Stanley Philip Keasel, were involved in a variety of trucking ventures, including working as a United States Mail Contractor during their almost 54 years of marriage. After his death in 1991, "mother" and her daughter, Lynn Busse, continued to operate a thrift shop known as One Way Etc., on Dolson Avenue in Middletown, that they had started 16 years earlier. The business continued to operate through 2003. She also worked at Middletown Psychiatric Center for many years.

Eleanor is survived by two sons, Stanley Keasel and his wife, Jill, of Eldersburg, Md., and Don Keasel and his wife, Judy, of Kettering, Ohio; one daughter, Lynn Busse and her husband, Tom, of Middletown; five grandchildren: Lori Keasel of McLean, Va., Eric Keasel of Alexandria, Va., Katherine Busse Bickerdyke and her husband, Cris, of Middletown, Thomas Busse and his wife, Laura, of Wallkill, and Scott Keasel and his wife, Jill, of Columbus, Ohio; five great-grandchildren: Carolyn Milner, Elizabeth Busse, Hannah Milner, Sarah Busse, and Erin Bickerdyke.

She was predeceased by three brothers: Alton Crotty, Claude Crotty, and Norman Crotty; one sister, Helen Hunt; and one grandson, John Patrick Keasel.

Family and friends are invited to call on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 from 7-9 PM at the Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, Inc., 130 Highland Ave., Middletown, N.Y.

A Funeral Service of Remembrance will take place on Wednesday, July 6 at 10:00 AM in the funeral home with the Rev. Ken Wonderland officiating. Burial will follow in the family plot at Scotchtown Cemetery.

Memorial donations in Eleanor's name may be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude's Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Arrangements under the direction of Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, Inc. www.applebee-mcphillips.com.