Hope H. Crutcher Obituary

#Middlebury

Loving wife, mother and grandmother

Mrs. Hope H. (Hallberg) Crutcher, 91, of Middlebury passed away peacefully at the Middlebury Convalescent Home. She was the beloved wife of William C. Crutcher.

Hope was born in Park Ridge, Ill. April 27, 1927, the daughter of the late Bernard and Margherita (Dike) Hallberg. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 1949, and later a master’s degree in library science at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Conn.  She moved to Middlebury in 1973 and worked as a special librarian at Pirelli Armstrong in New Haven until her retirement in 1989. She was a 67-year member of the national Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood, the Women’s Study Club of Naugatuck, as well as a member of Highfield Club in Middlebury. She was a member of the Middlebury Congregational Church and a former member of the First Reformed Church in Schenectady, N.Y.

Besides her loving husband, Bill, of 66 years, Hope leaves to cherish her memory her son Bernard C. Crutcher and his wife, Nancy, of Londonderry, N.H.; her daughters, Ann C. Cunningham and husband, Tom, of Huntsville, Ala. and Liz Crutcher of Marlborough, Conn.; five grandchildren, Sara and Kate Cunningham, and Christopher, Daniele, and Alexander Crutcher.  She was predeceased by her brother, Kenneth Hallberg.

In addition to the foregoing essential information, this tribute to Hope’s life would not be complete without a short summary of people and organizations she touched along the way and that molded her attitudes and passion for helping and working with others.

Hope Hallberg grew up in Park Ridge, Ill., marched with the Brownies, went to Girl Scout camp, and ducked swipes by her older brother, Kenneth. She would see her father Ben off on the commuter train to his job as a sales manager in Chicago. She attended high school in Park Ridge and learned from her mother, Margherita, how to manage a household and especially how to cook.

While in high school during World War II she worked with other high school girls to solder electric relays in a Cadillac showroom that had been converted to a factory. The relays were essential components in Flying Fortresses, and she received a letter of commendation from the manager after the war ended.

Her father died while she was attending Denison University in Ohio, but Hope went on to graduate with a degree in speech while her mother worked in a brokerage firm. Her first job was with Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. editing its publication, the “Reviewing Stand.”

There she met her future husband, Bill Crutcher, a naval officer sent to aircraft control school in Glenview, Ill. during the Korean War.  After a whirlwind courtship, she accepted his proposal and they were transported to Hawaii by the U.S. Navy for what turned out to be a yearlong honeymoon. While Bill did a daily commute to his ship in Pearl Harbor, Hope taught seventh grade in Island Paradise School.

Released by the Navy in 1952, they then moved to Louisville, Ky., where they bought a house and lived there until 1957.  The first two of their three children (Bernard and Ann) were born in Louisville. Hope launched into raising a family along with her favorite pastimes of singing with a ladies’ choral group, giving parties, and cooking. As they prepared for her husband’s job change, their childrens’ respective grandmothers, Margherita and Diana, took charge of the children while they took a trip to Europe. In Paris, they rented a car and made a circuit through Germany, Austria, Italy and France back to Paris and home. This was the first of many foreign countries visited during their 66 years of marriage.

Bill’s new job as a patent attorney with GE took them to Washington, D.C. and  then to Schenectady, N.Y.  They bought a house in the suburb of Scotia and lived there for a time while building a home in Glenville.  Their last child, Elizabeth, was born there in 1963. They lived in Glenville until 1973, moving to Middlebury, Conn. where Bill started with Timex and in later years went into private practice with the Waterbury law firm Gager, Henry & Narkis.

While living in Middlebury, Hope was active in local book clubs, P.E.O, wrote papers for presentation to the study club, and swam many laps in the swimming pool at the Waterbury  Y.M.C.A. She cataloged and organized the books in the Mattatuck Museum library, was a member of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and loved to attend Long Wharf Theater in New Haven and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She also discovered that many of her ancestors on her mother’s side, dating back to arrival of the sailing vessel Anne in 1623, were buried in a small private cemetery in Thompson, Conn. Her mother had never known that cemetery existed.

There are no calling hours. Private inurnment of Hope’s cremains will take place in the First Reformed Church columbarium in Schenectady, N.Y. at the convenience of the family. Brookside Memorial/The Albini Family Funeral Home & Crematory at 200 Benson Road in Middlebury has been entrusted with the arrangements.

A memorial service for Hope’s family and friends will be held later, at a time to be announced, at the Middlebury Congregational Church at 1242 Whittemore Road in Middlebury.

Memorial contributions may be made in Hope’s memory to: Controller, P.E.O. Sisterhood, 3700 Grand Ave., Des Moines, Iowa 50312.

For more info or to send an on-line condolence, please visit www.brooksidememorial.com