MARIAN R. CRAWFORD
Mass of Christian burial will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 5 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waite Park, MN for Marian Cahill Crawford who died on January 1, 2013. Rev. Mark Innocenti will officiate. Interment will be in St. Joseph’s Parish Cemetery, Waite Park.
Relatives and friends may call from 4:00-8:00 PM on Friday at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, St. Cloud, MN and one hour prior to the Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waite Park. Parish Prayers will be on Friday at 5:00 PM at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in St. Cloud. Arrangements are with the Daniel Funeral Home, St. Cloud, MN.
Marian was born on September 9, 1928 to E. J. (Ed) and Mary Perion Cahill in Fort Dodge, IA and graduated from Fort Dodge High School in 1946. She met the love of her life, Edward (Pat) Crawford, on St. Patrick’s Day in 1947 and they were married January 29, 1948 at Corpus Christi Church in Fort Dodge. She lived in Fort Dodge until 1958 and Algona, IA until 1967 when she and her family moved to the St. Cloud area.
Marian worked as parish secretary at St. John Cantius Church for several years and also in the accounting department at Franklin Mfg. Co. She served as a Eucharistic minister and as a member of the parish council at St. Joseph’s Church in Waite Park, and volunteered for several other organizations. She was especially proud of being a member of the first class of trained volunteers for the St. Cloud Hospice program in 1982, and she continued volunteering for 24 years, assisting 67 patients in their final journey. Marian has been a member of Christian Women of St. Joseph’s Parish since 1978.
Marian loved dancing, playing cards and travelling. Over the years, she and Edward visited all 50 states by automobile, airplane and motor home. Immensely proud of their Irish heritage, they especially enjoyed their trip to Ireland to research their ancestors. Always a lover of learning, she endowed her children with her innate curiosity and love of words and numbers.
Survivors include her husband, Edward Crawford of Waite Park; sons Patrick (Jeanne) of Kansas City MO, and Paul (Kim) of Sycamore IL; daughters Kathleen (Mark) Bernick of Rice, Mary Ellen (Gerry) Keymer of St. Cloud, and Jane (Kevin) Shiek of Ramsey MN; 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Marian was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Emmett and Stephen Cahill, and sisters Helen Cahill and Catherine (Kit) Ralston.
Memorials are preferred to St. Cloud Hospital Hospice Program or to the Church of St. Joseph in Waite Park.
Daniel Funeral Home, St. Cloud, MN, 1-800-358-3313 www.danielfuneralhome.com.