Jane Diehl Crawford, died at Kendal in Ithaca, N.Y. on Sunday, July 23, 2017 at the age of 88. She was born in 1929 in Toledo, OH, the eldest child of George and Gladys Diehl.
Her father George at times held three "war" jobs to fund her education. Jane graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science, with a keen interest in botany. Plucking up her courage she moved east to pursue a master's degree in Botany at Cornell. Her interest in flora was refocused on local fauna when she met and ultimately agreed to marry, Courtney Crawford, a young Cornell law student. The couple's life changed in 1957 when she gave birth to Gil Crawford. The young couple ultimately settled in Ithaca where Jane quickly took up the family's teaching mantle at Ithaca High School (1956-1966). When queried about the fact that she was a fourth-generation teacher she is reported to have replied, " I fear that Education is a genetic defect." She spent the rest of her professional career in education, first at Ithaca College and then at Cornell advising pre-meds. Her official title was Associate Director of Health Careers, but rumors, subsequently fact checked from numerous student sources, indicate that her un-official title was "Goddess of Pre-Med." She shared her expertise more broadly by writing a number of short books on how to get into medical and veterinary schools. Upon retirement, she joined several writing groups and even penned and published an adult literacy book targeting prison populations. In retirement, she continued to serve as a sounding board, and counselor for many peers and young people in the community and family. No one who knew her long, doubted that she firmly believed that education was a primary driver in the arc of the moral universe and that she had been personally tasked to affect that the arc's continued positive curve.
She is survived by her son Gil Crawford, daughter-in-law Louise Stoner Crawford, grand-daughter, Caroline Sangree Crawford and grandson Gideon Holmes Crawford, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and dear friends many of whom will miss her tins of "Aunt Jane's" brownies.
We will celebrate Jane's life at 1:00 pm September 3, 2017 at Kendal Ithaca. The family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made in her name to the Kendal Employee Appreciation Fund or Planned Parenthood.
SERVICES Celebration of Life
Sunday, September 03, 2017 1:00 PM
Kendall of Ithaca 2230 N. Triphammer Road Ithaca, New York 14850
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