March 20, 1929 - October 12, 2024
Died peacefully at her home in Ithaca Michigan on her beloved farm Saturday morning surrounded by her son and daughter.
She was the Carson City Bean Queen before marrying Stuart Crooks on August 21, 1948 they were married for 55 years before Stewart passed in 2003. They raised 5 children together. The first few years they lived in Huntington Indiana, then moved to Grand Rapids Michigan and lived there for 5 years before returning to the Crooks Family Farm.
Muriel started a quilters qroup in her mom’s basement in 1983 called the Olde Time Quilters*, there were approximately 13 ladies that would meet weekly to hand quilt. Along with being a master quilter she made sour cream cookies, making as many as a thousand dozen cookies at Christmas. She also was a Bookkeeper at Middleton Farmers Elevator where she was always looking out for the farmers. She retired at the age of 76 working for her nephew Kris Duflo.
After retiring she lost both her legs at the age of 81. For the last 14 years she has been on a “Jazzy Scooter” driving it throughout the house and farm. She was an inspiration to all for her resilience and never give up attitude. She continued making her Sour Cream Cookies making sure her grandchildren had cookies every Christmas. Her love for quilting continued right to the end, her quilting ladies came Wednesday to work on one of the two quilts that she had on the quilt frames.
She would put her “Jazzy Scooter” on high and get to the kitchen as fast as she could when Greg came in to cook or can some vegetables from his beautiful garden. Greg was always here with his mother making sure all her needs were met. Greg would tell you that his mom was his Hero, but we all knew that Greg was her Hero.
Barbara with her diligence to make sure her momma was always taken care of. Muriel had a word that she would put special emphasis on from time to time “Whatever”, we can honestly say that Barbara heard it more than all of us. The relationship of a mother and daughter is always beautiful.
She loved watching game shows, her and Mark would try to guess the answers to Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, most of the time guessing the right answers. She would keep Linda busy trying new recipes, she loved watching the cooking shows, always making sure the recipe was printed to try it. It never seemed like Mark and Linda could come up often enough to please her.
She was loved dearly by her family, always there to listen, always there with unconditional love and support. We are all so Blessed for having this amazing woman in our lives.
We would like to thank her 6 care givers for taking such excellent care of her and loving her. You are all amazing people, we will always be grateful.
Surviving are her four children:
Steven Crooks, Florida
Gregory Crooks, Ithaca MI
Mark (Linda) Crooks, Warsaw, IN
Barbara VanAtten, Ithaca MI
Four Grandchildren:
Amber (Kris) Howes, Kalamazoo, MI
Sarah (Ralph) Ponze, Holt, MI
Nicole (Marcus) Haskin, Mount Pleasant, MI
Cody VanAtten, Lansing MI
Nine great grandchildren
Preceded in Death:
Husband: Stuart Crooks
Daughter: Elladyne MacNabb
Grandson: Jason Crooks
Brother: George Smith
Sister: Phyllis Duflo
Funeral services for Muriel will be 1pm Saturday, October 19, at the Barden Funeral Home in Ithaca. Burial will follow at Fritz Cemetery. Visitation will take place prior to the service from 11am - 1pm at the funeral home.
The family is being served by the Barden Funeral Home in Ithaca. Condolences may be left for the family online at www.bardenfuneralhome.com.