Lydia Adrian "Lee" Lecraw, 97, formerly of Old Westbury, Long Island, N.Y., and Marlborough, died in her sleep Sept. 7, 2012, in the Philippines, where she had been living with her son and his family for almost a year.
She was born in Van Horne, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1914, the second child of Marie (Dornseif) and William Happel. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Escalon, Calif., California State Junior College at Modesto, the University of California at Berkeley (where she received a bachelor of arts in education), and, in 1965, she earned a master's degree in education from Adelphi University of Garden City, Long Island, N.Y.
Her father died before her birth, when his horses bolted, and he was dragged under the harrow as he was plowing his field. Soon after her birth, her mother moved with her and her older sister, Dorothy, to stay with her aunt in California. There her mother married Arthur Adrian, who had followed her to California from Iowa, and, who, after his marriage, adopted her and her older sister.
After their marriage, her parents developed a fruit ranch in California's Central Valley.
In common with many Americans today, when Mrs. Lecraw started 1st grade she had a shock: her teacher and classmates were all speaking a language she had rarely heard before, a language she did not understand: English. Her parents spoke only German at home, their friends spoke German, and only German was spoken at the Lutheran Church the family attended. After she learned English, she came to love school and did well there as she developed a lifelong orientation toward learning.
When she graduated from junior college in nearby Modesto, her father told her that she had had enough education for any girl, and insisted that she work on the family fruit ranch until she married another rancher. Mrs. Lecraw had other ideas, however, and with her older sister she enrolled in the education department at the University of California at Berkeley. With tuition of $26 per semester, she and her sister were able to work their way through university and graduate in 1938.
Immediately after graduating from Cal Berkley, Mrs. Lecraw took a secretarial course, and, armed with this and her U.C. degree, went to Washington, D.C., to take graduate studies at George Washington University, and to work in the War Department as the United States geared up for World War II.
In Washington, she met her future husband, John Eastman "Johnny" Lecraw, also a graduate student at George Washington University. On dates with Johnny, for the first time in her life, she ate in restaurants, went to plays, concerts, and to museums. They married in 1941. Although he was married, worked for the government, and was a student, her husband volunteered as a Navy officer, and served on an aircraft carrier at the end of the war. Their first child, Donald, was born in 1944 and their second child, Adrienne, was born in 1946.
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In 1947 the Lecraw family moved to Carle Place, Long Island, N.Y. They subsequently moved to Old Westbury, Long Island, where her husband ultimately served several terms as mayor. In 1948, she and her husband enrolled their children in the Waldorf School of Garden City, a new school based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Three years later, John Gardner, the chairman of the faculty at the Waldorf School, asked Mrs. Lecraw to become a primary school teacher at Waldorf, even though she had no background in Waldorf education, and no knowledge of Steiner's writings. In 1952, while her husband was fighting in the Korean War as an officer on the aircraft carrier USS Antietam, she taught her initial 1st-grade class as their homeroom teacher (English, math, history, geography, science and art), and moved up with the class until they finished grade 6. She then returned to teach 1st grade and moved with this second class from the 1st through the 8th grade.
In 1966, Mrs. Lecraw became co-director of the Waldorf Institute of Adult Education, the newly created Waldorf teacher training center at the school. Students at this institute studied two summers at Adelphi University, one school year at the institute, and received a master's degree in Waldorf education from Adelphi. After 11 years as co-director and then director of the Waldorf Institute, she retired. In 2007, she was given the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Garden City Waldorf School, an award given once every three years.
After she retired in 1977, Mrs. Lecraw moved with her husband to Marlborough. There, she advised the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, and mentored its teachers for more than 30 years. As the culmination of her lifelong love of gardening, she was the founder and president of the Marlborough Garden Club. As president of the club, she ensured that the state planted extensive greenery along the roadside when Route 101 was widened. In 2006, she was named president emeritus of the club. She also started three separate monthly reading groups: for Shakespeare, the modern novel, and Steiner philosophy.
In 2007, Kenneth L. Chenault, chairman of the board and CEO of American Express, a student for eight years in her second class at Waldorf, cited Mrs. Lecraw as his favorite teacher in the nationwide "Teachers' Count" campaign.
Her beloved husband of 62 years, John, a sister, Dorothy Greenleaf, and brothers, Paul, Art, Frank, and Phil Adrian, died earlier.
The immediate families will hold private memorials in the Philippines, and in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Contributions may be made in Mrs. Lecraw's memory to the Waldorf School of Garden City, Office of Development, 225 Cambridge Ave., Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. 11530, or to the Marlborough Garden Club, in care of Ernie Fowler, 15 Frost St., Marlborough 03455.
She was born in Van Horne, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1914, the second child of Marie (Dornseif) and William Happel. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Escalon, Calif., California State Junior College at Modesto, the University of California at Berkeley (where she received a bachelor of arts in education), and, in 1965, she earned a master's degree in education from Adelphi University of Garden City, Long Island, N.Y.
Her father died before her birth, when his horses bolted, and he was dragged under the harrow as he was plowing his field. Soon after her birth, her mother moved with her and her older sister, Dorothy, to stay with her aunt in California. There her mother married Arthur Adrian, who had followed her to California from Iowa, and, who, after his marriage, adopted her and her older sister.
After their marriage, her parents developed a fruit ranch in California's Central Valley.
In common with many Americans today, when Mrs. Lecraw started 1st grade she had a shock: her teacher and classmates were all speaking a language she had rarely heard before, a language she did not understand: English. Her parents spoke only German at home, their friends spoke German, and only German was spoken at the Lutheran Church the family attended. After she learned English, she came to love school and did well there as she developed a lifelong orientation toward learning.
When she graduated from junior college in nearby Modesto, her father told her that she had had enough education for any girl, and insisted that she work on the family fruit ranch until she married another rancher. Mrs. Lecraw had other ideas, however, and with her older sister she enrolled in the education department at the University of California at Berkeley. With tuition of $26 per semester, she and her sister were able to work their way through university and graduate in 1938.
Immediately after graduating from Cal Berkley, Mrs. Lecraw took a secretarial course, and, armed with this and her U.C. degree, went to Washington, D.C., to take graduate studies at George Washington University, and to work in the War Department as the United States geared up for World War II.
In Washington, she met her future husband, John Eastman "Johnny" Lecraw, also a graduate student at George Washington University. On dates with Johnny, for the first time in her life, she ate in restaurants, went to plays, concerts, and to museums. They married in 1941. Although he was married, worked for the government, and was a student, her husband volunteered as a Navy officer, and served on an aircraft carrier at the end of the war. Their first child, Donald, was born in 1944 and their second child, Adrienne, was born in 1946.
advertisement
In 1947 the Lecraw family moved to Carle Place, Long Island, N.Y. They subsequently moved to Old Westbury, Long Island, where her husband ultimately served several terms as mayor. In 1948, she and her husband enrolled their children in the Waldorf School of Garden City, a new school based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Three years later, John Gardner, the chairman of the faculty at the Waldorf School, asked Mrs. Lecraw to become a primary school teacher at Waldorf, even though she had no background in Waldorf education, and no knowledge of Steiner's writings. In 1952, while her husband was fighting in the Korean War as an officer on the aircraft carrier USS Antietam, she taught her initial 1st-grade class as their homeroom teacher (English, math, history, geography, science and art), and moved up with the class until they finished grade 6. She then returned to teach 1st grade and moved with this second class from the 1st through the 8th grade.
In 1966, Mrs. Lecraw became co-director of the Waldorf Institute of Adult Education, the newly created Waldorf teacher training center at the school. Students at this institute studied two summers at Adelphi University, one school year at the institute, and received a master's degree in Waldorf education from Adelphi. After 11 years as co-director and then director of the Waldorf Institute, she retired. In 2007, she was given the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Garden City Waldorf School, an award given once every three years.
After she retired in 1977, Mrs. Lecraw moved with her husband to Marlborough. There, she advised the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, and mentored its teachers for more than 30 years. As the culmination of her lifelong love of gardening, she was the founder and president of the Marlborough Garden Club. As president of the club, she ensured that the state planted extensive greenery along the roadside when Route 101 was widened. In 2006, she was named president emeritus of the club. She also started three separate monthly reading groups: for Shakespeare, the modern novel, and Steiner philosophy.
In 2007, Kenneth L. Chenault, chairman of the board and CEO of American Express, a student for eight years in her second class at Waldorf, cited Mrs. Lecraw as his favorite teacher in the nationwide "Teachers' Count" campaign.
Her beloved husband of 62 years, John, a sister, Dorothy Greenleaf, and brothers, Paul, Art, Frank, and Phil Adrian, died earlier.
The immediate families will hold private memorials in the Philippines, and in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Contributions may be made in Mrs. Lecraw's memory to the Waldorf School of Garden City, Office of Development, 225 Cambridge Ave., Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. 11530, or to the Marlborough Garden Club, in care of Ernie Fowler, 15 Frost St., Marlborough 03455.
Lydia Adrian "Lee" Lecraw, 97, formerly of Old Westbury, Long Island, N.Y., and Marlborough, died in her sleep Sept. 7, 2012, in the Philippines, where she had been living with her son and his family for almost a year.
She was born in Van Horne, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1914, the second child of Marie (Dornseif) and William Happel. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Escalon, Calif., California State Junior College at Modesto, the University of California at Berkeley (where she received a bachelor of arts in education), and, in 1965, she earned a master's degree in education from Adelphi University of Garden City, Long Island, N.Y.
Her father died before her birth, when his horses bolted, and he was dragged under the harrow as he was plowing his field. Soon after her birth, her mother moved with her and her older sister, Dorothy, to stay with her aunt in California. There her mother married Arthur Adrian, who had followed her to California from Iowa, and, who, after his marriage, adopted her and her older sister.
After their marriage, her parents developed a fruit ranch in California's Central Valley.
In common with many Americans today, when Mrs. Lecraw started 1st grade she had a shock: her teacher and classmates were all speaking a language she had rarely heard before, a language she did not understand: English. Her parents spoke only German at home, their friends spoke German, and only German was spoken at the Lutheran Church the family attended. After she learned English, she came to love school and did well there as she developed a lifelong orientation toward learning.
When she graduated from junior college in nearby Modesto, her father told her that she had had enough education for any girl, and insisted that she work on the family fruit ranch until she married another rancher. Mrs. Lecraw had other ideas, however, and with her older sister she enrolled in the education department at the University of California at Berkeley. With tuition of $26 per semester, she and her sister were able to work their way through university and graduate in 1938.
Immediately after graduating from Cal Berkley, Mrs. Lecraw took a secretarial course, and, armed with this and her U.C. degree, went to Washington, D.C., to take graduate studies at George Washington University, and to work in the War Department as the United States geared up for World War II.
In Washington, she met her future husband, John Eastman "Johnny" Lecraw, also a graduate student at George Washington University. On dates with Johnny, for the first time in her life, she ate in restaurants, went to plays, concerts, and to museums. They married in 1941. Although he was married, worked for the government, and was a student, her husband volunteered as a Navy officer, and served on an aircraft carrier at the end of the war. Their first child, Donald, was born in 1944 and their second child, Adrienne, was born in 1946.
advertisement
In 1947 the Lecraw family moved to Carle Place, Long Island, N.Y. They subsequently moved to Old Westbury, Long Island, where her husband ultimately served several terms as mayor. In 1948, she and her husband enrolled their children in the Waldorf School of Garden City, a new school based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Three years later, John Gardner, the chairman of the faculty at the Waldorf School, asked Mrs. Lecraw to become a primary school teacher at Waldorf, even though she had no background in Waldorf education, and no knowledge of Steiner's writings. In 1952, while her husband was fighting in the Korean War as an officer on the aircraft carrier USS Antietam, she taught her initial 1st-grade class as their homeroom teacher (English, math, history, geography, science and art), and moved up with the class until they finished grade 6. She then returned to teach 1st grade and moved with this second class from the 1st through the 8th grade.
In 1966, Mrs. Lecraw became co-director of the Waldorf Institute of Adult Education, the newly created Waldorf teacher training center at the school. Students at this institute studied two summers at Adelphi University, one school year at the institute, and received a master's degree in Waldorf education from Adelphi. After 11 years as co-director and then director of the Waldorf Institute, she retired. In 2007, she was given the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Garden City Waldorf School, an award given once every three years.
After she retired in 1977, Mrs. Lecraw moved with her husband to Marlborough. There, she advised the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, and mentored its teachers for more than 30 years. As the culmination of her lifelong love of gardening, she was the founder and president of the Marlborough Garden Club. As president of the club, she ensured that the state planted extensive greenery along the roadside when Route 101 was widened. In 2006, she was named president emeritus of the club. She also started three separate monthly reading groups: for Shakespeare, the modern novel, and Steiner philosophy.
In 2007, Kenneth L. Chenault, chairman of the board and CEO of American Express, a student for eight years in her second class at Waldorf, cited Mrs. Lecraw as his favorite teacher in the nationwide "Teachers' Count" campaign.
Her beloved husband of 62 years, John, a sister, Dorothy Greenleaf, and brothers, Paul, Art, Frank, and Phil Adrian, died earlier.
The immediate families will hold private memorials in the Philippines, and in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Contributions may be made in Mrs. Lecraw's memory to the Waldorf School of Garden City, Office of Development, 225 Cambridge Ave., Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. 11530, or to the Marlborough Garden Club, in care of Ernie Fowler, 15 Frost St., Marlborough 03455.
She was born in Van Horne, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1914, the second child of Marie (Dornseif) and William Happel. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Escalon, Calif., California State Junior College at Modesto, the University of California at Berkeley (where she received a bachelor of arts in education), and, in 1965, she earned a master's degree in education from Adelphi University of Garden City, Long Island, N.Y.
Her father died before her birth, when his horses bolted, and he was dragged under the harrow as he was plowing his field. Soon after her birth, her mother moved with her and her older sister, Dorothy, to stay with her aunt in California. There her mother married Arthur Adrian, who had followed her to California from Iowa, and, who, after his marriage, adopted her and her older sister.
After their marriage, her parents developed a fruit ranch in California's Central Valley.
In common with many Americans today, when Mrs. Lecraw started 1st grade she had a shock: her teacher and classmates were all speaking a language she had rarely heard before, a language she did not understand: English. Her parents spoke only German at home, their friends spoke German, and only German was spoken at the Lutheran Church the family attended. After she learned English, she came to love school and did well there as she developed a lifelong orientation toward learning.
When she graduated from junior college in nearby Modesto, her father told her that she had had enough education for any girl, and insisted that she work on the family fruit ranch until she married another rancher. Mrs. Lecraw had other ideas, however, and with her older sister she enrolled in the education department at the University of California at Berkeley. With tuition of $26 per semester, she and her sister were able to work their way through university and graduate in 1938.
Immediately after graduating from Cal Berkley, Mrs. Lecraw took a secretarial course, and, armed with this and her U.C. degree, went to Washington, D.C., to take graduate studies at George Washington University, and to work in the War Department as the United States geared up for World War II.
In Washington, she met her future husband, John Eastman "Johnny" Lecraw, also a graduate student at George Washington University. On dates with Johnny, for the first time in her life, she ate in restaurants, went to plays, concerts, and to museums. They married in 1941. Although he was married, worked for the government, and was a student, her husband volunteered as a Navy officer, and served on an aircraft carrier at the end of the war. Their first child, Donald, was born in 1944 and their second child, Adrienne, was born in 1946.
advertisement
In 1947 the Lecraw family moved to Carle Place, Long Island, N.Y. They subsequently moved to Old Westbury, Long Island, where her husband ultimately served several terms as mayor. In 1948, she and her husband enrolled their children in the Waldorf School of Garden City, a new school based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Three years later, John Gardner, the chairman of the faculty at the Waldorf School, asked Mrs. Lecraw to become a primary school teacher at Waldorf, even though she had no background in Waldorf education, and no knowledge of Steiner's writings. In 1952, while her husband was fighting in the Korean War as an officer on the aircraft carrier USS Antietam, she taught her initial 1st-grade class as their homeroom teacher (English, math, history, geography, science and art), and moved up with the class until they finished grade 6. She then returned to teach 1st grade and moved with this second class from the 1st through the 8th grade.
In 1966, Mrs. Lecraw became co-director of the Waldorf Institute of Adult Education, the newly created Waldorf teacher training center at the school. Students at this institute studied two summers at Adelphi University, one school year at the institute, and received a master's degree in Waldorf education from Adelphi. After 11 years as co-director and then director of the Waldorf Institute, she retired. In 2007, she was given the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Garden City Waldorf School, an award given once every three years.
After she retired in 1977, Mrs. Lecraw moved with her husband to Marlborough. There, she advised the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, and mentored its teachers for more than 30 years. As the culmination of her lifelong love of gardening, she was the founder and president of the Marlborough Garden Club. As president of the club, she ensured that the state planted extensive greenery along the roadside when Route 101 was widened. In 2006, she was named president emeritus of the club. She also started three separate monthly reading groups: for Shakespeare, the modern novel, and Steiner philosophy.
In 2007, Kenneth L. Chenault, chairman of the board and CEO of American Express, a student for eight years in her second class at Waldorf, cited Mrs. Lecraw as his favorite teacher in the nationwide "Teachers' Count" campaign.
Her beloved husband of 62 years, John, a sister, Dorothy Greenleaf, and brothers, Paul, Art, Frank, and Phil Adrian, died earlier.
The immediate families will hold private memorials in the Philippines, and in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Contributions may be made in Mrs. Lecraw's memory to the Waldorf School of Garden City, Office of Development, 225 Cambridge Ave., Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. 11530, or to the Marlborough Garden Club, in care of Ernie Fowler, 15 Frost St., Marlborough 03455.
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