Winnifred L. Crowley went peacefully into the arms of her Savior on September 22, 2011 surrounded by her family at the age of 94 – one of Montana\u2019s last women WWII Veterans. Winnifred was born October 24, 1916 to Rev. George and Nellie Cagle in Texarkana, Arkansas. She graduated high school in Eldorado and attended nurses training in San Antonio, Texas. In 1943 she joined the US Army during WWII and rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. In 2001 she was honored in a ceremony by the State of Montana as one of the few living women WWII Veterans. It was one of the highlights of her life. During WWII she was stationed at Camp Maxey, Texas where she met her future husband, Gerald Crowley. She always said he was the best looking man in a uniform she ever saw. They were married in 1945 in Paris, Texas. After WWII they moved to Missoula Montana where she worked as a nurse at St. Patrick\u2019s Hospital while Gerald attended law school. In 1950 they made Helena their home. She worked at Ft. Harrison Veteran\u2019s Hospital, St. John\u2019s Hospital and St. Pete\u2019s Hospital. Mom never lost her southern accent and was always referred to as the \u201csouthern nurse.\u201d She retired from nursing in 1966. They spent their retirement years traveling to many exotic places and wintering in Mesa, Arizona with their group of special friends.<\/p>\n
Winnifred ran her race well and left a legacy of love to her three children, eight grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. She loved well and all who knew her loved her in return. She will be greatly missed by all.<\/p>\n
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, an infant son, one son-in-law, two brothers, four brothers-in-law, three sisters-in-law, and all her many friends.<\/p>\n
She is survived by her daughters Annell (Mike) Fillinger of Helena, Margaret McGrath of Helena, her son Larry (Barb) Crowley of Dallas Texas, eight grandchildren, Stacy Hamilton, Phoebe Williams, Sgt. Matthew Fillinger, Cara Crowley, Vincent Crowley, Austin Crowley, Lance Corp. Nicholas McGrath, Molly McGrath and twelve great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
The family extends a special note of thanks to the staff at Cooney Home for the loving care and kindness they showed to Mom over the last ten years.<\/p>\n
A military graveside service will be held Wednesday September 28th at 1 pm at Resurrection Cemetery. A reception will follow at the home of her daughter Annell. In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation be made in her name to the charity of your choice. To offer a condolence or share a memory of Winnifred, please visit: www.retzfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1267789.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/23376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}