Billie Jean Crabtree
Billie Jean (Gardenhire) Crabtree departed this life on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. Jean’s passing was peaceful being surrounded by her loving family and friends at St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick. She was 86.
Jean was born March 25, 1929, at her parents’ home in Murray County, Oklahoma, to Thaddeus and Jessie (Wilkins) Gardenhire.
She was their first of four children, born before electricity had made its way into rural Murray County.
She was raised on her parents’ farm, and graduated from Sulphur High School in 1947. Upon graduation she began her college career at East Central University (Ada, Oklahoma) where she met Don Martin Crabtree who would be the love of her life and the father of all her children.
Together they transferred to the University of Oklahoma where Jean graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and a minor in French.
She began pursuit of a Master’s Degree in English, but when almost complete chose to leave her studies to support Don’s earning a Master’s Degree of Fine Arts in Voice.
During their time at The University of Oklahoma, Jean and Don were married and their first daughter, Deborah, was born (1954; Norman, Oklahoma).
After graduation Don served in the United States Army during which time their second daughter, Cheryl, was born (1956; Fort Smith, Arkansas).
In 1957 Don was discharged from the Army. The family then moved to New York so Don could pursue a career in music and entertainment.
During their years in the New York metropolitan area, Jean and Don made their way from Queens to Harrington Park, N.J., and added two more daughters Laura (1958; Floral Park) and Susan (1966; Englewood, N.J.) to the family.
They were well aware that as an actor Don’s work could be unpredictable. Consequently, they sought further financial stability and both desired to return to a more rural life of their youth.
This led the family to Warwick in 1973, and Jean began her career in real estate. She became a licensed real estate agent working with Acre House Realty (Middletown) and later with Weichert Realty (Oradell, N.J.).
She and Don also began buying and renovating rental properties. They eventually acquired seven properties in Warwick, as well as in one in Alpine, N.J., and one in Philadelphia, Pa.
But Jean’s true, lifelong vocation was as a devoted wife and mother. She always put the care and welfare of her family at the forefront of her life.
But through it all she made time to share her personal love of art, music, and literature.
She also set aside time to capture her reflections of these loves through her poetry, which was always prolific. She will be truly missed by all who knew her.
Surviving Jean are her daughters: Deborah (Warwick), Cheryl and her husband Glenn Woertz (Alpine, N.J.), Laura (Warwick), and Susan and her husband Ian Graham (Nyack); her grandchildren: Collin Crabtree-Keeler, Catherine Crabtree, Brendan Woertz, Matthew Woertz, Heather Graham, Patrick Graham, and Carson Graham; and her two great-grandchildren: Emma and Layla Keeler; and her three siblings: Gay Nell Crabtree (Raleigh, N.C.), Joy May (Vassar, Kansas) and Gary Gardenhire (Norman, Oklahoma).
For those who wish to join the family in celebrating Jean’s life, a memorial service will be held at noon on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Mulder Chapel, Warwick Center, 62 Warwick Center Road (off Hoyt Road)
Arrangements were made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home. For further information, directions or to send an online condolence, see www.lsvpmemorialhome.com.