Connie Connie Marie Crow

Connie Marie Crow, age 62, passed away peacefully on March 13, 2015 in Carrollton, TX due to bile duct cancer. She was born on December 2, 1952 in Amarillo, TX where she grew up. Her parents Elton LeRoy Crow, Sr. and Rubye Marie Furrh Crow Rehwalt predeceased her.

Connie is survived by her partner Linda Southern of Carrollton, TX; her brother Elton LeRoy (Roy) Crow, Jr. and wife Gwen of Virginia Beach, VA; her niece Pamela Crow Torres and her daughter Lily of Washington, D.C.; and several aunts and cousins. She also leaves behind some families who were very dear to her – the Chavez, Johnson and Southern families. She was preceded in death by her beloved Yorkie dogs Brandy and Rowdy.

Connie attended Travis Junior High and Palo Duro High School where she graduated in 1971. Her school friends remember her kindness and compassion and warm shy smile. She loved playing softball and was good at hitting home runs. Connie was a Girl Scout for many years. Her mother was a troop leader and her father drove the girls on scout trips. She made many life-long friends in scouting and while attending scout camp in Mexico. She later became leader of Girl Scout Troop 262 in Amarillo.

Connie attended Amarillo College where she studied photography and social science. She moved to Dallas where she graduated from Elkins School of Photography and was certified in commercial photography in 1974. She then worked in the photography and photo processing field for several companies. Photography was a lifelong hobby for her and she was rarely seen on vacations or special occasions without her camera. Several young people were inspired to take up photography by seeing her love for it.

Connie later worked in the food and wine service industry, counseling services, customer service, and service dispatching for several executive limousine services where she was known for her friendly and polite manner.

Connie had a big compassionate heart and always cared for those in need. She was a volunteer counselor for abused women at The Family Place and also volunteered for the YWCA, MDA, Big Brothers and Sisters, Girl Scouts, and Red Cross. She was active in the Democratic Party and volunteered her photo abilities for several local conventions and meetings. Her kind and generous heart led her to rescue birds and dogs who had been abused and nurse them back to health. Her pets absolutely adored her and were well loved.

Among her accomplishments was presentation of workshops teaching people how to make panels for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in honor of loved ones who died from HIV/AIDS. She co-coordinated 300-400 volunteers for 2 years in planning for and presenting displays of over 1,000 quilt panels to the public at the Infomart in Dallas. She volunteered her skills to photograph quilt panels for the NAMES Project at a showing of portions of the quilt in San Francisco. Despite widespread fear of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, she helped care for several friends as they were dying of HIV/AIDS.

Among her many hobbies were collecting comic books, stamps, coins, jigsaw puzzles, holiday collectibles, Girl Scout memorabilia, panda and animal figurines, and cookbooks. She loved trying out new recipes or making her own recipes. She was skilled at gardening and growing herbs. Her friends knew that she loved sending greeting cards for all occasions. Many people never knew that she also wrote heartfelt poetry for her friends.

Connie enjoyed taking her “no destination vacations” in which she picked a direction and just started driving, stopping at interesting places along the way and exploring historic parts of towns. Once she and a friend took a stuffed Pooh bear and photographed it at every stop along the way.

She had beautiful blue eyes, a sweet smile, an infectious laugh, and a polite and considerate manner. She made friends everywhere she went because of her kindness and friendliness. Many people have said she was the kindest person they knew. She was soft-spoken and quietly observed people before joining into conversations. Her big heart and gentle spirit will be greatly missed by many people, especially her loving partner Linda whom she cared for and loved for 18 years.

Memorial services will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday April 4 at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home at 7990 George Bush Turnpike, Dallas, TX 75252, phone 972-407-6070. A reception will follow the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to a charity of your choice or to Operation Kindness (a non-profit no-kill animal shelter) at 3210 Earhart Dr., Carrollton, TX 75006, phone 972-418-7297.