Mary Crites

Mary Ann Crites was born October 20, 1932 to Richard David and Marian Dryden Hale. Mary Ann was a devoted housewife and mother to eight children. She worked as a short order cook, a house cleaner for elderly patrons, and cared for many children as an "in home" day care provider. She worked as a certified nurse aide at Caldwell Nursing Home and in Medford, Oklahoma. Mary Ann provided in home care for her parents and her mother-in-law throughout the years as well.

She graduated from high school in Peru, Kansas in 1950. She and Leslie Duwane Crites were seventeen years old when they married on September 8, 1950 and were married fifty-three years before Leslie passed away in April 2003. Mary Ann then lived with her daughter, Kimberly, in Watonga until her health declined to the point she needed to be in the nursing home. She was there until her death on September 18, 2016.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Leslie and two children, Shane and Susan, in 1970.

Mary Ann is survived by six of her children, Debbie (Crites) Hayward and husband, Dan of Welch, Oklahoma, Kimberly Crites of Watonga, Oklahoma, Duwane Crites and wife, Sherry of Watonga, Oklahoma, Daniel Crites of Welch, Oklahoma, Michael Crites of Watonga, Oklahoma and Merri (Crites) Halderman and husband, Adam of Vici, Oklahoma; ten grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; one sister, Linda Sue Hill of Huntsville, Alabama; two brothers, John David Hale of Coffeyville, Kansas and Henry Hale of Elkins, Arkansas; many other loved ones and friends.

Funeral service for Mary Ann will be Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at the Church of God in Caldwell, Kansas. Burial will be in Caldwell City Cemetery. There will be a time of viewing at the church on Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. until 1:45 p.m.