DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INCORPORATED PHOENIX METROPOLITAN ALUMNAE CHAPTER

OMEGA OMEGA SERVICE Saturday, February 27, 2021, 3:00 pm

August 13, 1963 – December 14, 2020

Obituary Dr. Allison Endalene Crawford was born August 13, 1963, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to parents whose roots are planted deeply in the South. Her father, the late J.C. Crawford of Ochlochnee, Georgia, was a police officer. Her mother, a teacher, was the late Abuigle Allison Couch Crawford of Shelbyville, Tennessee. Allison was the second child born to this union. Allison attended Indianapolis’ North Central High School where she served as a Bookstore Assistant, a member of the Spirit Committee, and a member of the Track Club. As a senior, she served as a Judge for the Pie Eating Contest! Allison graduated from NCHS in the spring of 1981, and traveled to New Orleans that fall to pursue studies in Accounting at Dillard University. She was an esteemed University Scholar and lived on campus in Camphor Annex, the honors dormitory, with the “smart” girls. During the summer, Allison often joined fellow Dillard classmates at a social hosted by Dillard alumni in the Indianapolis area and shared her experiences with high school students in her hometown. The Indianapolis Recorder featured photos of the annual event that included Allison, Deanna Garner, Yolande Ridley, and others who walked the Avenue of the Oaks during the 1980s. In November 1982, Allison was initiated into THE Beta Gamma Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. The only daughter of a Delta, Allison gained 18 new sisters! Determined, stylish, and talented - together they became PE (Problematic Equation) 19. Allison enjoyed sorority life and the time spent with her sisters. In her senior year, Allison served as the chapter’s 1st VicePresident and Dean of Pledgees. In this role, she ushered the 1984 Pyramid Circle – Born to Run 21 – into the sisterhood. Her bond with this special group of sisters endured as she remained connected to them for nearly forty years. She happily reunited with countless Delta sorors at national conventions and participated in the infamous Beta Gamma Round-ups held in each host city.

In May 1985, Allison graduated from Dillard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Her expanded academic interest included a passion for science which led to a change in her career path. Following her graduation from Dillard, Allison completed a Health Careers Program at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. Following Georgetown, she attended medical school at the University of Illinois – College of Medicine in Chicago and concentrated her studies in Diagnostic Radiology. She graduated from UI with distinction in August 1991. After an internship at Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Allison completed her residency at Michael Reese Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago in July 1996. At the time of her passing, Dr. Crawford had been a practicing physician in Arizona for nearly twenty years. During the course of her professional career, Allison held medical licenses in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, and Texas. Allison joined the Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter after moving to Arizona. She had the honor of winning PMAC’s Centennial raffle and received a paid registration to attend the Delta’s 100th Celebration in Washington, DC back in 2013. Allison remained financial and active member with PMAC until her transition. It has been said that “politics can make for strange bedfellows.” Armed with the facts, an unassuming demeanor and a genuine concern for people, Allison was astute at discussing politics, especially the politics of recent times. In her own way, she did not deter from what she believed was right and just. She also loved the outdoors and traveling to exotic places abroad. Allison expressed her creativity through writing. Her first novel, “Truth in the Blood,” was published in 2016 under a pen name, JM Crane. It is a crime thriller about a Homicide Detective Rachel Myers who loves working in New York City and using her intelligence to solve even the most convoluted plots. It’s still available on Amazon for those who are interested! Allison was working on her second novel at that time of her passing. Now that Allison Endalene Crawford has transitioned to be with the ancestors, her legacy lives on through her brother, Jerry Crawford, her niece, Ariana Crawford, her dearest aunt, Doris Crawford Hawkins, and her extended family including her sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Participating Sorors Kesha Hodge Washington

Presiding Officer

President, Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Joanne Coppock Scott

Assisting Soror

Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Janet Williams

Chaplain

Co-Chaplain, Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Monica Mills Mattox

Eulogy

New Orleans Alumnae Chapter

Valencia Fisker

Chosen Soror #1

Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Octavia Madden

Chosen Soror #2

Tempe Alumnae Chapter

Dawn Strobert

Chosen Soror #3

Arizona State Coordinator Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Sharon Cannon

Chosen Soror #4

New Orleans Alumnae Chapter

Angel Cobb

Chosen Soror #5

Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Sherri Lee Daniels

Chosen Soror #6

Houston Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Dr. Sonya Wilmer

Special Remarks

Bay Area Houston Alumnae Chapter

Donna Gray

Vocalist

Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Adora Lewis Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter

Vocalist

If Tears Could Build a Stairway If tears could build a stairway And thoughts a memory lane We’d walk right up to heaven And bring you home again No farewell words were spoken No time to say good-bye You were gone before we knew it And only God knows why Our hearts’ still active in sadness And secret tears still flow What it meant to lose you No one can ever know But now we know you want us To mourn for you no more To remember all the happy times Life still has much in store Since you’ll never be forgotten We pledge to you today A special place within our hearts Is where you’ll always stay God knows why with a chilling touch Death gathers those we love so much And what now seems so strange and dim Will all be clear, when we meet Him As we only knew you for a Moment -Author Unknown