Betty Carole Crawford, 69, of La Puente, died Saturday, April 15, 2017 at Kaiser Baldwin Park Medical Center. Mrs. Crawford was born May 28, 1947 in Scott County, Iowa. the daughter of Hugo W. Elizabeth A. Holst. She attended the State College of Iowa and , when the school attained University status her Senior year, earned a teaching degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 1967. She began substitute teaching for the LA School District in 1967/1968. In 1969, she married Barry R. Crawford and took a position at Monte Vista School, in West Covina, CA. Early in her teaching career, she earned a M.A. from Cal State LA. In 1986, she joined the teaching staff at Merlinda School, in West Covina, where she taught until her retirement in 2011. Mrs. Crawford devoted her life to her four children and the many children she taught.

In hr life, she taught children to seek out and explore new worlds through reading, to play outside and get dirty, to practice math and make art with fervor, to find joy in and move to music, to care for one another, and to be silly and laugh at life. As a determined single mother and full-time teacher, she cared for and deeply loved her four children. She could tell stories about the past and weave together new traditions for her family, and her memory will live on in songs, letters, stories, lasagna on Christmas eve, and ringing laughter.

Survivors include her four children, Caran (Aaron) Howard, Scott Crawford, Brain Crawford, and Tiffany (Clark) Jensen; grandhildren; sisters, Sandra (Leo) Rathjen and Marlene "Jo" (Dale) Mullen. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Memorial Service will be Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 2:00pm, held at Chapman Funeral Homes, of Arcdia, 51 East Huntington Drive, Arcadia, CA. Email condolences to www.ChapmanFuneralDirectors.com.