Lois Crenshaw

Lois Crenshaw, born Hannah Lois Wilson on February 4, 1920, in Henderson, Texas to Hannah and Albertus Wilson. Due to the passing of her mother from the flu when she was 2 weeks old, Hannah was raised by her grandparents, Claranda & John Henry Johnson who were farmers in Henderson. Deciding that there were too many Hannah’s in her family, she decided to use her middle name, Lois as her first. Growing up on a farm, Lois learned to milk cows, churn butter and be in the kitchen with her grandmother. She also enjoyed being in the garden and was not fond of picking cotton. Her grandfather worked as a blacksmith shoeing horses for area farmers. Being an only child, Lois was close to her grandparents and was taught grade school by her grandmother’s sister and given the nickname “Baby Lois”.

Lois attended Hanson High School graduating in 1939. From there she went on to pursue Home Economics at Texas College in Tyler Texas. After college, decided to be a beautician in the Dallas, TX area. Around 1942 she met the man who she would spend the next 53 years of her life with, Odell Crenshaw. But, before they were wed, Odell went overseas for 3 years as a United States Marine Corpsman to defend our freedom during WW2. After the end of the war, in January of 1946, Lois Wilson and Odell Crenshaw were married at her aunt’s home in Dallas, Texas.

Her next move was to Washington DC, where her husband Odell attended Howard University in pursuit of his degree as an engineer. After his graduation and a short return to Dallas, Odell started his career in California, where the couple spent the next 16 years of life together. Once she was married, Lois kept herself busy as homemaker, a dedicated church attendee and a devoted wife. She loved to garden and take care of her plants, especially purple flowers. The two enjoyed traveling to Canada, New York and Florida as well as playing golf. After 16 years in Los Angeles, Odell was transferred to Texas where he became an engineer at NASA. The couple took up residence in the Clear Lake area where Lois frequently visited the Space Center.

Lois lost her husband, Odell in 1999. Lois believes her greatest accomplishment in life was being an amazing wife to her husband for over 50 years. “He was kind to me; he was a hard worker, and we had a 50th anniversary party in LA that I will never forget” Lois recalls. After Odell’s death, Lois was cared for by Nolan Grice (affectionately called “nephew”) with great honor as promised to Odell. Nolan’s grandmother was a first cousin of Odell Crenshaw.

Lois leaves to cherish her memory: best friend for life, Claudia Slesthenger who is also 101 years old; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

At 101 years old, Lois said, “I am simply thankful for life, and it is no one’s decision to live long, it is the Lord’s.”