Beatrice V. Crittendon, 95
OTIS, Mass. — Beatrice Viola "Bea" Crittendon, 95, formerly of Otis, died peacefully Tuesday, April 21, 2009, at Laurel Lake Center in Lee.
Born in Northfield, Vt., on Nov. 15, 1913, daughter of Edwin and Adeline Knowles Wescott, she attended schools in Northfield and graduated from Baypath Secretarial College in Springfield, Mass.
Mrs. Crittendon was working in the purser's office at Norwich University in Northfield when she met her husband, William Summer Crittendon of Otis, who was a cadet at the school. As the wife of an Army colonel during World War II, she created a home for her husband and children at numerous Army bases, later moving to Otis.
She was a member of First Congregational Church, Order of Eastern Star and many PTO associations. Her family said she loved flower gardening, bird watching, craft painting, singing, baking her delicious apple pies, dancing with her husband and making quick-witted jokes that would often catch folks off-guard. Mostly, she loved her family and friends.
Her husband, whom she married at her family home in Northfield on Oct. 30, 1937, died April 1, 1993.
She leaves three daughters, Marlyn C. Coffey, Deborah C. Dutton and her husband, Ted, and Laurie C. Nikituk and her husband, Michael, all of Otis; a son, William S. Crittendon Jr. and his wife, Sheri, of Crested Butte, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Kim Tonlino and her husband, John, Kris Coffey and her husband, Bill Rust, Steve Crittendon, Beth Glotfelty and her husband, Jake, William Cade and his wife, Doris, Ben Cade and his wife, Lindsey, Alex Nikituk and Angela Nikituk; eight great-grandchildren: Jake Tonlino and his fiancée, Kimmy Wilander, Luke Tonlino, Ryan Lolar Cade, Ashley Crittendon, Colten Crittendon, Nicholas Glotfelty, Julia Glotfelty and Madeline Glotfelty, and many nieces, nephews and stepgrandchildren.
She was predeceased by her granddaughters Margaret "Meg" Cade on Oct. 29, 2000, and Karen Coffey on Jan. 31, 2001, and her brother, Darwin Wescott, and sister, Almeda Baraw.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A Service of Remembrance will be held at First Congregational Church of Otis on June 29, at 10, with burial to follow in the Otis Center Cemetery. A luncheon will be held afterward in the community room at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Meg Cade Memorial Scholarship Fund for Lee High School seniors. Donations should be mailed in care of Finnerty and Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Remembrances, memories and reflections may be sent to the family through www.finnertyandstevens.com.