Obituary of Reta I. Crandell
Reta I. Day Crandell, at 105 years young, received her 'Angel Wings'and joined her family in heaven on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
Reta was born in 1916 to Stella and Wardie Day in Coffey Missouri. Reta met and married Maxwell K Crandell in Kansas City Missouri. Theirs was a true love story. Once asked why they got married, Max replied ‘because she stole my hat and would not give it back until we got married” and Reta just smiled and said “it worked didn’t it”. They built a home in Raytown, Missouri and started their family. Several years later they moved their small family to Michigan. In 1969 Reta moved to Oceanside, California and in 2017 moved to live with her son and daughter in law in Tucson, Arizona, spending her summers with her daughter and son in law at Lake Tahoe.
Reta loved people and talking to them. She often said there was not a stranger she did not like and most often they became a friend. At her daughter's annual BBQ’s, Reta could be found in a 'seat of honor' holding ‘court’ and regaling people with her stories and adventures.
Reta volunteered through out her life in many activities and organiuzations - from working in the classroom with her children when they were young, little league and boy scouts activities, serving as a Girl Scout Leader, to serving meals at Brother Beno’s Food Kitchen in Oceanside, CA well into her 90’s. But her favorite thing was to attend Honor Flight Nevada Homecomings and helping to present Quilts of Valor from the Comstock Lode Quilters to the returning Vets. Reta was a long time member of Eastern Stars and Daughters of the Nile. She was also a member of the Washoe Zephyr Chapter of the Nevada State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for the past 12 years. Reta was also an active member in the United Methodist Church wherever she lived whether it was teaching bible class or serving on church committees.
Reta had a wonderful sense of humor and loved a good (or even a bad) joke. She loved books and was a voracious reader, finishing a book about every other day. She loved traveling and all things Disney (especially the character ‘Grumpy’). Family trips were either traveling the Northern route or taking Route 66 from Michigan to California and back, always with family time in Missouri. After moving to California she made regular trips to Missouri to visit her mother until Stella passed at 106. Reta traveled several times to Europe while her son was stationed there. For her 100th Birthday she wanted to celebrate at Disneyland and was joined by family members Mona Crandell Hook, Palmer & Jaime Crandell, Ryan, Elizabeth and Skylar Hook, Brent Hook & Amy Conway. And at 100 she renewed her passport so she could travel to Guadalajara, Mexico for her grandson’s wedding. In 2018 she went on a Disney Cruise to the Carribean with family.
Reta loved her immediate family as well as her extended/adopted family. She is survived by her two children, Stewart W, Crandell (Curie) Tucson, Arizona and Mona Crandell Hook (Steven) Tahoe Vista, California; seven grandchildren, Brent S. C. Hook , Ryan M.D. Hook (Elizabeth), Stewart M, Crandell (Judi), Palmer J. Crandell (Jaime), Sarah Jacobs, Deborah Crandell, and Joseph Crandell (Lena); 17 great grandchildren. Also her ‘adopted’ grandchildren: David J. Simon, Will Loeb (Teoma), Paul Miller and Amy Conway. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Max; her sister and best friend, Venita Day Flanagan; her brothers Richard, Ellis and Clement Day; and her parents Stella Jane And Henry Silas Ward Day.
Reta led an amazing life, living a century of with much change -- from buggies to space travel; party lines to an Iphone (although she drew the line at having or using a computer) and so much more. We were all blessed to have her in our lives, and there are so many wonderful memories of her that she will live on in our hearts forever. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date. Donations may be made in her memory to one of her favorite organizations: