Helen Grace Crawford

Helen Grace Crawford was born on Aug 19th, 1929 in Harris Minnesota to Ella (Larson) Stafstrom and Clause Stafstrom, a farmer, both from Sweden.

Helen was the youngest of 7 children. While she was still a baby of one, her mother died, pregnant with her 8th child. Helen was placed in the care of her maternal aunt and uncle until the age of 5. She then returned home to help on the farm and attend a one room school house with her 6 siblings.

She was a straight A student in school. Her favorite activities were ice skating and reading. She would skate for miles on the frozen creek that ran through their farm. Her least favorite jobs growing up were milking the cows and feeding the chickens due to a pesky rooster, who relentlessly pecked her as she did her chores. She graduated from Rush city high school in Chisago County, Minnesota, in 1946 at the age of 16. Her father Clause died that same year, leaving her oldest brother Willard to run the farm. Helen left the farm and enrolled in a stenotype class and became a part-time stenographer while she attended Northwestern Bible School. She went on to attend Wheaton College and was a double major in Greek and Latin.

After college she worked for Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Bay area of California, where she was involved with the Navigators ministry. It was there she met the love of her life, John Crawford, whom she would marry in 1955 in the Rose Arbor at Glen Erie, the Navigators’ headquarters in Colorado Springs. There John was working under Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators. She bore 3 children; the first was a beautiful boy born Oct 10th, 1958 who died at birth. She was a woman of tremendous faith and continued in her women’s ministry until God blessed her with Jay Warren, born 2 years to the day on Oct. 10th 1960 and later with Bonnie Lila, born Oct 30th 1964. In 1970 she followed John into the mission field as they took an assignment in New Zealand. In 1979, they relocated to Oklahoma City where they remained working with the Navigators until John’s death Feb 8th 2010.

She was passionate about her 7 grandchildren and saw all of them receive Christ as their Savior. She loved to travel with John. In the absence of snow, she took up rollerblading and running. She ran in the Red-Bud Classic from 1983 until 2004. She loved to run with her son and grandchildren in this race. She was a breast cancer survivor, an outdoor and nature enthusiast. She loved wild life, especially the songbirds, and distinguished their calls as she fed them each day. She loved the scripture Mathew 10:29. She was a voracious reader and a walking “spell-check,” which was a blessing for her husband’s sermons and her children’s papers. She had a servant’s heart and loved to cook meals for those in need and loved to have people come over to eat. She absolutely adored her husband and loved being married to him for 54 years. Together they were strong advocates for marriage and counseled innumerable couples. She lived out the Biblical principles of submission and respect. Today they are united once more for eternity. Helen is survived by her 2 sisters, Florence Holt and Eleanor Stafstrom, her 2 children, Jay and his wife Carmen of Edmond, and Bonnie and her husband Eric Foster of Colleyville TX, 7 grandchildren, several nieces and nephews and a host of loving friends. The family will be greeting friends at the funeral home Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, May 17, 2010, at Cherokee Hills Baptist Church.

Arrangements under the direction of Bill Merritt Funeral Service, Bethany, OK.