Obituary: Crawford, Audrey E.
Age 98
She was born September 18, 1915 to the late Bessie and Thomas Cox in Joplin, MO.
She was the fourth of five children.
She was the only child from her family to finish high school.
She graduated from Lewis and Clark in 1933.
Audrey married the late Gerald Hedstrom in 1936 and was widowed in 1951.
During this marriage, they had two children, son Kenneth and daughter Caryl.
She then married Harvey Crawford in 1952 until his passing in 1984.
She worked for Frisbies Canning Factory and as a baker for Spokane School District 81 until she retired in 1983.
She was known by most as Grandma Crawford and her claim to fame was her hand crafted afghans, slippers, booties, hats, mittens, christening gowns, sweaters, and potholders that she lovingly knitted for hundreds of lucky recipients.
Audrey was an avid pinochle player, for which she played with the same group for nearly 75 years.
She also loved playing games, and was an avid photographer.
Her greatest joys were the times spent with her family and pet, knitting, reading, doll collecting, and baking.
Survived by daughter Caryl (Bill) McBride; daughter-in-law Sandy Hedstrom; grandsons Todd (Shari) Rausch, Tim (Elliott) Rausch; granddaughters Kelli (Jed) Brown, Kristina (Andrew) Zirschky; great-grandchildren Alex and Ryan Rausch, Evan and Anna Zirschky; sister Lena Hill; and her loving cat Chloe.
She was also an adored adopted member of the McBride family.
Preceded in death by husbands Gerald Hedstrom and Harvey Crawford, son Kenneth Hedstrom, siblings Lillian Moon, Clark Cox, and Charlie Cox.
A viewing will be on Wednesday, June 4th at Heritage Funeral Home from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Sunset Chapel at Fairmount Memorial Park on June 5, 2014 at 1:00p.m.
Memorial gifts can be made in Audrey’s honor to the Spokane Humane Society.