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In Loving Memory

Crowe, Madeleine M. (nee: Brady)

Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Beloved wife of the late James R. Crowe Jr.; dear mother of James J. (Susan) Crowe, Mary (Chris) Craig, Kathleen (Jim) Waters and Ellen Crowe; dear grandfather of Crystal, Andrew and Connor; dear great grandmother of 5; dear sister of Fr. John Brady; our dear aunt and friend .

Madeleine Brady was born March 18th, 1926 in Worthing, South Dakota to Frank and Ruth Brady. She was the youngest of five children, Frank (born 1918), Thomas (1919), Ursula (1922), John (1923) and Madeleine. Worthing was a small farm town and a special place to grow up. Madeleine lived there with her immediate family as well as her grandparents Brady and McMahon, aunts and uncles. And, she had many cousins nearby.

When the bank in Worthing closed, her father, who was an accountant became a bank manager and her parents moved the family to Chamberlain, South Dakota in 1931. Chamberlain was a river town and notorious as a “rough place” characterized by drinking, gambling and prostitution.

The memories of Chamberlain were not all happy. The town was “economizing” and not using sufficient levels of chlorine in the water. As a result, people became sick. Madeleine and Ursula and their father all contracted typhoid fever and were hospitalized in Mitchell, South Dakota. Madeleine and her father would eventually recover, Ursula did not, she passed 11 days before her 11th birthday.

As the depression continued all of the banks in Chamberlain went broke. And once again her father provided and found a job as a bank examiner, so he moved his family to Salem, South Dakota in about 1936-37, then to Yankton, South Dakota, eventually settling in a house two doors down from her future love and partner in crime, James R. Crowe, Jr. During this time her brother Thomas, a WWII pilot, would be lost at sea and declared Missing in Action, never to be located. Her two other brothers would also serve but return safely from the war.

Madeleine continued her education and graduated from Yankton High School. She pursued her higher education at Clarke College (now Clarke University). At Clarke she was class president, held academic honors during her entire academic tenure. She continued on after graduation at Clarke serving as Registrar and then as faculty in Biology.

She was courted and eventually conceded to marry James, a marriage that would last 68 years until his passing in 2019. During that time the couple would live in Rapid City South Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Des Moines, Iowa; eventually settling in St. Louis, Missouri, as James built his career with Campbell’s Soup Co. They would have four children. One was born in Rapid City, South Dakota (James) one was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Mary) and two in Des Moines (Kathleen and Ellen). In St. Louis, Madeleine raised the four children almost single handedly as James traveled during the week and was home on weekends as a Salesman and District Manager for Campbell’s. She also volunteered in a variety of roles at St. Elizabeth of Hungry and Meals on Wheels. She not only raised the four children but also was the number one fan of all her children as well as her children’s friends. She adopted many people and dogs along the path of her life and all were better for it.

Visitation at Kutis Affton Chapel 10151 Gravois Road Wednesday, January 27, 4-8 p.m.  Funeral Thursday, January 28, 9:30 a.m. from KUTIS AFFTON CHAPEL, to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 1420 S. Sappington Rd. for a 10:00 a.m. MASS.  Contributions to  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital appreciated.

Visitation Access live stream on Wednesday, January 27 from 4-6 pm on Ellen Crowe’s Facebook Page at following link (click link below):https://www.facebook.com/ellen.crowe.75

Funeral Access live stream on Thursday, January 28 beginning at 10 am on Ellen Crowe’s Facebook Page at following link (click link below):https://www.facebook.com/ellen.crowe.75

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