Beth Ann (Croskey) Bassein (age 96) was born March 22, 1925 in North Kansas City, Missouri to Anna Olivia (Moore) Croskey and Gilbert D. Croskey. She passed away in Colorado Springs, Colorado on November 16, 2021. Beth Ann was predeceased by her parents and her two older brothers, Robert Orman Croskey and Richard Lee Croskey, and her husband, Rodman Samuel Bassein. Beth Ann is survived by two daughters – Katherine Bassein (Rajarshi Roy) of Takoma Park, Maryland and Laura Bassein (Gary Weissmann) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is also survived by two grandchildren, Nathaniel Partha Roy and Naomi Anna Bassein Weissmann. These and many other family members, friends, colleagues and former students (too many to name) were very important to Beth Ann and made her life joyful and meaningful.
Beth Ann served as an English Professor at the University of Southern Colorado for 25 years from 1966 to 1991. She graduated in 1947 from Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri, and subsequently obtained her MA in 1952 and her PhD in 1961 from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. These university degrees followed from her early education at Brown School, a one room schoolhouse in Platte County Missouri which she attended through the 8th grade and where her mother had once taught. During her career as a professor, Beth Ann authored several books and wrote hundreds and hundreds of poems; she continued writing many poems until nearly the end of her life.
After retirement, Beth Ann volunteered for decades for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and for the El Paso County Parks at the Bear Creek Nature Center and the Fountain Creek Nature Center. This volunteer work reflected Beth Ann’s life-long love of bird watching, her amazing green thumb, and her later interest in art. Beth Ann enjoyed traveling throughout her life, starting during her earlier years when she traveled with her college roommate to nearly all of the states in the US. Later on, she traveled to many other countries including Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Scotland, and Wales.
A strong and independent woman, Beth Ann lived on her own until only a couple of months before her death. She enjoyed a long, rich life. Beth Ann will be dearly missed by friends and family alike. Should you choose to honor Beth Ann, please consider a donation to: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (https://fac.coloradocollege.edu/donate/); El Paso County Nature Centers (https://communityservices.elpasoco.com/nature-centers/donations-and-gifts/); Colorado College Women’s Educational Society (https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/wes/join-now.html)
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