Rachel Eloise Crawford Van Sickler

Rachel Eloise Crawford Van Sickler embarked on a lifelong journey that took her from Depression-era Appalachian Alabama to trips across six of the world’s seven continents. On Friday night, Dec. 20, she died at her final destination, Tampa, Fla. She was 87.

Rachel was born Dec. 16, 1932 in Cullman, Ala., to William Lemuel and Flora Lorene Crawford, who operated a small family farm. Her childhood was characterized by pre-dawn toiling in the fields -- rain, sleet or snow. She helped plant, tend and pick the crops that eked out her family’s meager income. She attended school only after that morning’s labor was done.

Upon graduating high school, Rachel sought a life beyond the Deep South. With the help of her older sister, Ethel, and a few spare dollars, Rachel escaped for Washington D.C. At the time, the New Deal and America’s post-World War II ambitions were transforming the nation’s capital.

While attending classes at George Washington University, Rachel juggled jobs, including a brief stint as a secretary for a West Virginia congressman named Robert Byrd, who would later become the longest serving U.S. Senator in history.

But it was a moment during a mid-1950s mixer between her sorority, Delta Zeta, and a fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, that would change her life the most. Rachel met a charming Delt, an engineer with a crew cut named Robert Van Sickler. They talked the night away and so began an on-again, off-again courtship for the next eight years.

By the late 1950s, Bob was an ROTC Air Force officer based in what is now Taiwan. Rachel, meanwhile, wanted to travel the world. While on vacation with friends in Germany, she took a medical secretary job at an Air Force base in Wiesbaden. A restless spirit then who relished her independence, Rachel learned how to drive in Germany and saved enough money to buy a Volkswagen. It came in handy as she racked up the miles driving across Europe for adventures.

In her letters, Rachel regaled Bob with European tales. Hearing enough, he joined her for an epic trip across Germany, Italy, France, Holland and Switzerland. By 1960, Bob had a job as a factory engineer in St. Louis. He convinced her to return stateside. They would marry a year later.

Rachel and Bob had three children: Kim, in 1963, Karen in 1968 and Mike in 1969. By 1971, the family had settled in the suburbs around the industrial northeast city of Cleveland.

Rachel took real estate courses in the early 1970s and crammed for exams to get her license. The local school board, however, became an obstacle.

Karen and Michael’s elementary school was in one of the few districts to send the kids home for lunch, disrupting Rachel’s workday. A woman’s place is in the home, Rachel was told when she pushed for an explanation. That didn’t suffice, and Rachel helped organize a protest, recruiting her kids to picket outside the school board. The campaign nabbed headlines and spots on the local nightly news. The school board changed its mind. Rachel won.

She sold real estate for nearly 20 years. All three kids went to college and post-graduate schools. Bob and Rachel retired early, moved to Tampa in the early 1990s and dedicated themselves to a life of travel.

They were among the first to live in Tampa Palms, participating in community boards that governed what has become one of the most established neighborhoods in Tampa Bay. Many knew Rachel as a talkative fixture at the local gym and neighborhood dinner parties. Her social contacts were so good that when Bob got cancer, she called on the Moffit doctors she already knew and they became part of his medical team. It seemed Rachel knew everyone. She will be missed.

Rachel was predeceased by her sisters Alice and Ethel and her brothers Ambus and Kelley.

Rachel is survived by her husband, Robert and children, Kimberly Van Sickler (Stephen Collar), Karen Van Sickler (Christopher Braund) and Michael Van Sickler (Kathleen Van Sickler). She is also survived by five grandchildren Kristen Ryan (Andrew Ryan), William Omerza, Joseph Collar, Anne Collar, and Claire Omerza.

Services will be held 11:30 am Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club. Donations in lieu of flowers can be sent to the Rotary Club of New Tampa Foundation, PO Box 46446, Tampa, FL 33646.