Cpt. Elisabeth Crawford

Captain Elisabeth Ann Crawford, 81, of Seattle, Washington, formerly of Pipestone, passed away on March 19, 2018. Liz was born on September 14, 1936, in Pipestone to Bernadine and David Crawford. She attended Country School with her three oldest siblings and graduated from Pipestone High in 1954. Liz followed her dream to be a nurse and graduated from St. Barnabas School of Nursing in Minneapolis.

Liz loved to travel and worked as an RN throughout the US and world. Liz joined the Army, attended officer training at Fort Sam Houston, TX, and was deployed to Vietnam in 1966 as a Captain in the 44th Medical Brigade Army Nurse Corps. Her nursing team survived the 1969 Tet Counteroffensive after being isolated for two weeks at a field hospital. After departing Vietnam in 1970, Liz worked at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., the Presidio in San Francisco, CA, and US Army Medical Center in Frankfurt, Germany.

Upon retirement from the Army, she moved to Bellevue-Seattle, WA, and continued nursing until changing careers in the 1980s. Liz studied Interior Design and earned her AA from Bellevue Community College. She loved art, design and decorating, especially around the holidays. Liz prized her large collections of her “favorite things” including Russian nested dolls, German Nutcrackers, and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. In retirement, she enjoyed patio gardening, acting in a senior troupe, reading voraciously, writing and crafts including sewing, painting, and collage.

Liz valued her life-long friendships with her Pipestone and St. Barnabas classmates, along with her many friends and family. She is survived by sister, Delilah “Dee” Taylor (Wyman), Great Falls, MT; brother Robert “Bob” Crawford (Marie), Choteau, MT; sisters-in-law Marlys Crawford and Joan Crawford, Pipestone; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by two brothers, David and Joe; sister-in-law Julene Crawford, and nephew Curt Crawford.

Donations in her honor can be made to the Pipestone Performing Arts Center, P.O. Box 100, Pipestone, MN 56164-0100