Lucille ‘Lucy’ Ritter Crom

Lucille “Lucy” (Ritter) Crom, 83, of Geneva , Ill., passed away Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, under hospice care at GreenFields of Geneva.

Lucy was born Feb. 6. 1930, in Newton, Iowa, the daughter of Roy A. and Lettie Inez (Rhordanz) Ritter. She spent her early years on the family farm near Reasnor where she attended a one-room country school and was significantly influenced by her involvement in 4-H.

As a Newton High School student she wrote for the school newspaper, participated in the marching band and was elected to a national scholastic society. At Iowa State University she majored in child development, was active in numerous campus organizations and a member and vice president of Sigma Kappa Sorority.

On June 9, 1950, she married Robert L. (Bob) Crom and moved with him to Mason City, Iowa. There she did volunteer work with the local YWCA and occasionally joined Bob in his broadcasts on radio station KGLO featuring agricultural and homemaking news.

While living in Alexandria, Virginia she worked in Washington, D.C., for an insurance adjusters firm. In Fargo, North Dakota, she was a founding member of Faith Methodist Church and active in the North Dakota State University Faculty Wives Club. At Michigan State University she was a staff member at the Center for English as a Second Language. During the family’s years in Ames, Iowa, she worked for 20 years in the Office of Admissions and Records at Iowa State where co-workers described her as “always so kind and thoughtful.”

Upon her husband’s retirement as director of extension and outreach at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, in 1993, they moved from Washington, D.C., to Ten Mile Lake near Hackensack, Minn. There she became a deacon in her church, active in PEO, and served on the Board of the Walker Area Food Shelf.

Lucy loved animals, flowers and the beauty of nature. Above all she found satisfaction in the love, cohesiveness and support of her family during times of illness, trauma and tragedy.

She was preceded in death by a son, Richard (Rick) Crom; brother, Howard Ritter; sister, Dorothy Horman; and her parents. She is survived by her husband Robert and three children, Penny Crom (Chris Mroz) of Grand Junction, Colo., Linda (William) Kearney of Winfield, Ill., and Randall Crom (Julie) of Washington, D.C.; five grandchildren, Alisa, Scott and Nick Kearney and Hilary and Max Mroz; and one great-grandchild, Ryan Scott Kearney.

Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Feb. 4, at Yurs Funeral Home, 1771 West State Street, Geneva, IL 60134. A memorial service will be at Union Congregational Church in Hackensack, Minn., on Monday, July 28, with visitation an hour before the 11 a.m. service. Burial will be at the Ames (Iowa) Municipal Cemetery at a future date.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the PEO Education Loan Fund at the PEO Executive Office, 3700 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312; or to the Iowa 4-H Foundation, designated for the Robert and Lucy Ritter Crom 4-H Volunteer Endowment Fund, at the Extension 4-H Youth Bldg., Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3630.

To leave an online condolence or remembrance to the family, visit the funeral homes' obituary page at www.yursfuneralhomes.com.