Mary Crossland Phelps, 92, of the 3100 block of Shore Drive, died on April 14, 2024. Born in Zanesville, Ohio, she was the daughter of Judge Clarence J. Crossland and Elizabeth “Betty” Bateman Crossland.
Although Mary left full-time teaching during the years her children were growing up, she remained active in the schools as a parent volunteer and substitute teacher, as well as working with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and Sunday School classes. She was a member of Bayside Presbyterian church.
After her children were grown, she entered the Masters Special Education program at Old Dominion University, worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Child Study Center, and was elected to memberships in Kappa Delta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies. In 1982 she received her Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Learning Disabilities and worked as a Learning Disabilities Resource Teacher in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools until she retired in 1994. During her forty years of dedicated service in education, Mary was actively involved with the National, State, and Local Reading Associations and the Learning Disabilities Associations.
She is survived by her son, Robert L. Phelps, II and his wife Mary Ann of Cedar Rapids, IA; a daughter, Mary Beth Phelps of Benson, AZ; two granddaughters, Anne Phelps of Orlando, FL and Becky Phelps of Cedar Rapids, IA; and sisters, Elizabeth Geiger of Jamestown, NY and Martha Heath of Rocky River, OH.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at Westminster Canterbury Chapel, 3100 Shore Drive in Virginia Beach. Entombment will be at Rosewood Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can made to the Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad at:
https://cbvrs.org/donate
