Mary Dolores Crum

Mary Dolores (Collins) Crum, 89, Retired Girl Scout executive, passed away April 30, 2017. Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 A.M., Friday, May 5, 2017, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Burial to follow at Maple Grove Cemetery. She was preceded in death by her parents, Katherine and George B. Collins, as well as her sister, Kay Collins Snyder, all of Wichita. She is survived by her husband, Charles K. Crum, and brothers, Robert M. Collins and Bernard G. Collins, all of Wichita, and sister, Joanne Powers of Del Mar, CA; nephews, John Snyder of Las Vegas, NV, and Robert Snyder of Powder Springs, GA; nieces, Janet Snyder of Morgantown, WV, Mary (Snyder) McCarthy of Richmond, VA, Ann (Snyder) Rishell of Mesa, AZ, and Susan Snyder of Chicago, IL. Born in Tulsa, Dolores grew up in Wichita where she graduated from Blessed Sacrament Catholic School and Cathedral High School. She attended college first at Mt. St. Scholastica College and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1949 with a degree in sociology. She earned an MA from Wichita State in 1976. After living and working in Lincoln, NE, New York City, and Providence, RI, Dolores returned to Wichita where she joined the professional staff of the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland for 47 years. From her early job as a caseworker at the Catholic Social Services in Lincoln to her retirement as Girl Scout adult services coordinator, Dolores was dedicated to helping young girls and women. With Girl Scouts, she held a wide variety of positions including field director, day camp director, program director, camp director, and director of volunteer services. She also served as a trainer for field staff at the Edith Macy National Training School in Pleasantville, NY. She was the author of For the Girls: 75 Years of Girl Scouting in the Wichita Area Girl Scout Council (2001). Her service was acknowledged with the highest Girl Scout recognitions: the Thanks Badge, the Gladys Wiedemann Award, and in 1993 the Association of Girl Scout Executive Staff Hall of Fame. She is a founding member of Juliettes Pearls. The Catholic Diocese of Wichita awarded her the St. Anns Award for her work with youth. Additionally, she held an elected position on the Citizens Participation Organization and served on the Governors Commission on Juvenile Delinquency, the United Way Committee of Offer Camping to Low Income Children, the Model Cities Task Force of Recreation, and as a loaned executive for the United Way. As a member of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, she served as a Eucharistic minister for 22 years. Dolores has been an active member of the Girl Scout Alumni & Friends, St. Thomas Altar Society, Junior League of Wichita, Delta Delta Delta Alumnae, Bookworms, Monicans, Agatharians, Delta Rho Sigma, and Friends of Hospice. She enjoyed tennis, bridge, knitting, travel, reading, lunch with friends, and cooking. Dolores lived the last years of her life at Larksfield Assisted Living where she met and made many wonderful friends. Dolores family would like to thank the staff of Larksfield Assisted Living and Healthcare for the meticulous care she received. Also thanks go to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice. Memorials should be directed to the Katherine and George B. Collins Scholarship at Newman University, 3100 W. McCormick St., Wichita, KS 67213; or Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, 360 Lexington, Wichita, KS 67218. Downing & Lahey East Mortuary.