Lucile Crink

Lucile Lazetta Crink, one of two children of Irvin Ross and Ora (Rhoads) Knott, was born on October 30, 1908 in Cedar, Iowa. Her mother was an area school teacher and her father was the local mail carrier and farmed the home place near Cedar. Lucile and her younger brother Dwight Parker Knott spent most of their childhood on the family farm. Lucile was a lifetime member of the Cedar Methodist Church. Lucille graduated from Cedar Consolidated School in 1926 and enrolled at the Iowa State College, later renamed Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Lucile worked her way through college by living with a family, getting up early and staying up late to do their housework. Lucile walked a mile to her classes each day. She graduated from Iowa State with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics Education and took teaching positions at Delta and Whitten, Iowa.
Lucile and Newell Philip Crink were married on June 5, 1931 at the Iowa State campus. They made their home in Glenvile, Nebraska where Newell assumed the position of Superintendent of Schools. They later lived in Defiance and Minden, Iowa where he also served in the same position. It was while living in Minden that their only child, Phyllis Sylvia was born. During WWII, Newell and Lucile lived in Sylacauga, Alabama where Lucile taught chemistry in the high school for one year, and then became the head teacher at the Sylavon Court Nursery School. In 1945, the family moved to Malvern, Iowa where Lucile taught at the junior high school. N.P. or "Duke" as Lucile called him, was the Superintendent of the Malvern school system until his retirement in 1972. Lucile and Newell continued to be active in the Malvern community. Lucile devoted a great deal of energy and talent to her family and the school activities and building programs. She particularly stood for helping others, improving the environment, and enjoyed brightening her surroundings with flowers and trees. Lucile was also very active in the Malvern Garden Club, the Book Review and Study Club, the Methodist Church Women's Society, and initiated Faculty Dames. She served as a leader for the Malvern Girl Scouts and was Board Chairman of the Nishnabotna Girl Scout Council.
Lucile and Newell had been married 60 years at the time of Newell's death on May 11, 1992. Lucile was living at the Fountain West Health Center in Des Moines, Iowa when she passed away at the age of 94 years, 7 months, and 9 days. She was preceded in death by her husband Newell and brother Dwight Knott. She is survived by her daughter, Phyllis Sylvia Crink-Low and her husband Dean of West Des Moines, Iowa; grandchildren Shelby Blair Grabinski and her husband Tim of West Des Moines, Bradford Evan Smith and wife Teresa, and Creighton William Smith all of Ames, Iowa, and Stewart Philip Smith of Venice Beach, California; great-grandchildren Quinlin Joy and Cecilia Blair Grabinski of West Des Moines and Rachael Ann Smith of Ames. Lucile had a "host" of friends in each arena of her life and was always thinking of others.