Mary Crain

1917 - 2009

Our mother, Mary Crain, passed away May 15, 2009. She was born in Detroit April 2, 1917, the fifth of seven children. Her parents emigrated from Bulgaria, joining family in Michigan.

The family moved to a farm in Hobart, Oklahoma, where Mary grew up. She married William C. Crain in 1943 and they moved to Los Angeles in 1945, following the War, and started their family; William in 1946, Carolyn in 1950, Robert in 1952, and the (surprise) twins, Marlene and Colleen, in 1955. At that point the family was complete and they bought the house in Granada Hills, where we were raised.

At home the radio was always on and our mom loved to sing along, and listen to baseball games. She read to us from library books while cooking dinner, thus instilling a life-long love of reading and of libraries as well as music and sports. All of her daughters worked in libraries. Mom baked outstanding cherry cobblers with cherries picked by the family at the annual forays to the Pie Cherry Ranch. She canned apricot jam we still talk about, and served a fried chicken dinner that was unforgettable. She had a New Home sewing machine and created beautiful clothes for all of us. As a registrar of voters, our home was often a polling place and politics was a common topic. Mom was always on the precinct election crew.

She and Dad enjoyed gardening in California, and raised gorgeous flowers including Dutch iris, bird of paradise, and roses, especially Tropicana and Double Delight. The gardens at their first home in North Hollywood were inspirational. She had a natural talent for arranging flowers and spent many a Saturday morning wandering through her flowerbeds. Several Scottish terriers were part of our family, along with rabbits and parakeets. Mom was a Girl Scout leader and was always involved in her children's activities. Friends were welcome in our house, and wherever we went as a family we were encouraged to invite them to join us. She was influential to her son William as a Cub Scout leader.

Upon her retirement from the City of Los Angeles, she and Dad enjoyed traveling. They visited us in Idaho, Wyoming, and Australia, and caught up with the grandkids wherever they were. Fishing was usually involved. They loved going to Marlene and Ed's place in Mexico where they would fish the Sea of Cortez. Mom and Dad saw China, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand, but mostly she loved seeing her kids. Mom read the paper every day and always worked the crossword puzzle in the LA Times. She knitted blankets and crocheted afghans. After Dad died in 1993, she kept her home until 2004, and then she moved to the Lexington in Ventura, where they took excellent care of her. Marlene and Ed were close by and saw her often. She enjoyed her days spent reading, playing bingo, watching ball games, and writing her children and friends.

In January of 2008 Mom was delighted to see all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at the Crain Family Reunion. This was the last we were all together.

She is survived by her sons, William in Montana, and Robert (LiLu) in Australia, and by her daughters, Colleen (Jim) in Idaho, and Marlene (Ed) in California. Her much-loved grandchildren are Jennifer (John) in Montana with great-grandchildren Isabelle and Sophia, Renee in Washington, DC, Branwyn Grace in Pomona, and Holly and April in Australia. She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, William C. Crain, and by her daughter Carolyn, who passed away from breast cancer in May of 2008. The family would like to give a special thanks to the staff at the Lexington, especially the memory care unit. They were wonderful, kind, and caring. Mom had a good life. She passed away peacefully. She will be remembered always.