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Mary Catherine Crooks

Mary Catherine Crooks, 96, of Kittanning, PA, passed away Friday, June 21, 2019, surrounded by her loving family.

She was born Nov. 14, 1922 to Thomas Bernard and Elizabeth Bycroft (DeLong) Conaghan.

Mary was a 1940 graduate of Tyrone High School and then attended Seth Business School in Altoona graduating in 1941. She briefly worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad prior to entering the U.S. Navy where she proudly served as a radioman during WWII and where she also met her husband, Dean Millard Crooks, whom she married Feb. 16, 1945. They eventually settled in Kittanning in 1960. Mary worked in the Armstrong County Probation office and the Valley National Bank and also served as West Kittanning Tax Collector for 27 years. She loved to travel and garden, and was a member of the Red Hat Society and an active member of St. John's Lutheran Church.

Her memory will be cherished by her son, Dean Millard Crooks of Kittanning; her daughter, Karin Crooks Hoover and husband, Jon of Clearwater, FL; a daughter-in-law, Roxanne Gaines of Toledo, OH; nine grandchildren, Cory Jon Hoover and wife, Maria, Todd Alan Hoover and wife, Kelly, Megan Mary Frances Hoover Ward and husband, Greg, Tobin Kim Crooks, Jacob Dean Crooks and wife, Jeanna, Marisa Ann Crooks, Russel Dean Gaines, Jesse Gaines, and Cara Gaines; 12 great-grandchildren, Amanda Sinclair Hoover, Samuel Jon Hoover, Wednesday Rider Terry, Alexander David Beckman, Sofia Michelle Hoover, Isabella Marie Hoover, Alyssa Kimberly Crooks, Kailey Janelle Crooks, Kamryn Paige Johns, Kinsley Jade Harper, Elliana Grace Crooks, and Oliver Jacob Crooks

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Dean Millard Crooks who died Oct. 4, 1976; a son, Kim Crooks, and a foster son, Rev. Bertram Gaines; two brothers, Thomas Bernard Conaghan, and John Philip Conaghan; and two sisters, Anna Jane Woleslagle, and Sarah Frances Lafferty.

Family will receive friends from 10 AM until time of memorial service at 11 AM on Saturday July 20, 2019, at the St. John's Lutheran Church, 218 N. Jefferson St., Kittanning, PA, with the Rev. Carl A. Johnson officiating.

Inurnment will be in Myrtle Cemetery, Shinglehouse, PA.

Contributions may be given in her honor to Heritage Hospice, 2400 Leechburg Rd., Bldg. #300, New Kensington, PA 15068, and St. John's Lutheran Church, 218 N. Jefferson St., Kittanning, PA 16201.

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