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LaVerne Crowder

November 5, 2020

The family will receive friends 2-4 pm Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020 at Storke Funeral Home, Bowling Green. A graveside service will be held 11 am, Mon. Nov. 9, 2020 at Greenlawn Cemetery Bowling Green.

LaVerne Stanley Crowder, a lifelong resident of Fredericksburg, Virginia, passed away on Thursday, November 5, 2020.

Surrounded by her loving family, LaVerne succumbed to Alzheimer’s after a 10-year long battle. LaVerne, the daughter of Ernest Stanley and Mary Kennedy Stanley, was born in Spotsylvania, just at the height of the Great Depression.

LaVerne met her future husband and life mate on a blind date in 1960. They dated for three years before tying the knot on November 16, 1963. She spent 57 years in marriage to Donald Ray Crowder, the love of her life. Together they had two sons, Ernest Ray Crowder and Jeffrey Glen Crowder.

LaVerne, together with Donald, raised their two sons and her three children from her first marriage. The Crowders loved to camp and they spent many weekends in the Virginia countryside in their travel trailer. She also loved the beach and would spend hours on the sand, working on her tan. LaVerne truly loved Chesapeake blue crab and was known to finish off more than her fair share of a bushel of these tasty crustaceans.

Before her children came along, LaVerne held several manufacturing positions in the footwear and metal die casting industries. Later in life, when her children were older, LaVerne earned her Certified Nursing Assistant certificate and she spent several years serving others at the Carriage Hill Nursing Home. She was also a lifetime member of the Patawomeck Native American tribe.

Crocheting Afghans was a passion for LaVerne. She literally crocheted hundreds of these warm gifts to give away to patients, friends, parents of new born children and many others. LaVerne attended the Full Gospel Church in Woodford, Virginia. She was a loving mother who was devoted to her family. She spent many years caring for her grandchildren early in their lives. LaVerne greatly valued education and she made it a point that her children and grandchildren did not miss a single day of school. Many days, if her charges missed the school bus, she’d get the car (and occasionally a switch) and take the reluctant child to school.

LaVerne is survived by husband Donald Ray Crowder, sons Ernest Ray (Terri) Crowder and Jeffery Glen (Wendy) Crowder, both of Fredericksburg; son Richard Sullivan, Jr.; daughters Brenda Sullivan and Carolyn Sullivan, from her first marriage.

Additional survivors include grandchildren Emily Nicole Crowder, Eric Ray Crowder, Elissa Ann Crowder, Bethany Louise Crowder and Cody Glen Crowder; sister-in-law Cheryl Crowder (Jamie) Welch, and brother-in-law Glen T. Crowder; nieces Deborah Todd Mesimer; Tina Marrie Widdick and nephew Dennis Glen Crowder.

Cards and notices of condolences can be sent to the family at the following:

Donald R. Crowder, 114 Hamilton, Fredericksburg, VA 22408

Ernest R. Crowder, 8115 Flippo Dr., Fredericksburg, VA 22408

Jeffrey G. Crowder, 246 Pond Dr., Dunnsville, VA 22454