Marynelle Crawford

MARYNELLE CRAWFORD, proud U.S. Marine Corps veteran and loving great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother passed away on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at age 95. She was born May 4, 1917, in Bryant, Ark., the only child of Ambrose and Lofie Thompson. She was the granddaughter of John Wesley Prickett, owner of the Prickett Dairy in Bryant. She spent most of her childhood in Little Rock, graduating from Central High School with honors. After high school she received secretarial training and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until she and her best girlfriend joined the US Marine Corps Women's Reserve after the start of WWII. She was assigned an office staff position at Marine Corps Headquarters, Quantico, Va. Included among her duties was clerical support for the Manhattan Project. She served with pride and distinction. Her job performance was stellar. She was quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant. In her later years, she was fond of saying she had the equivalent of a college degree in military records. During her enlistment, she met and in 1944 married Sgt. Donald Hughes Crawford, the boss of her best girlfriend. As the wife of a career Marine, she lived all over the United States until 1962, when his last orders before retirement assigned him to Camp Pendleton, Calif. In 1964 they retired to their last home together in Carlsbad, Calif. She continued to live there after he passed away in 1990 and in 1995 invited her granddaughter, Laura, to move in with her. They lived together until 2002 when Laura moved to the UK and Marynelle returned to Little Rock. She was a supportive grandmother to Laura and Jessica, supporting them through college and early adulthood and they in return helped her through many of the transitions and challenges faced when growing old. She would want to be remembered as a Marine, a Christian, a fierce patriot and a strong supporter of the Republican Party. She is survived by her great-granddaughters, Madeline and Ruby Morton; her granddaughters, Laura Morton and Jessica Sinn, and her daughter, Nancy Crawford. Visitation will be this afternoon, Sunday, from 5-7 p.m. at Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Ct. (NW corner I-630 and Barrow Rd.) Graveside services with Military Honors will be held Monday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at Little Rock National Cemetery, officiated by Dr. Bob Dunaway. Arrangements by Little Rock Funeral Home, (501)224-2200. Mrs. Crawford's online guestbook may be signed at www.littlerockfuneralhome.com.