Emma Theo Nora Nylander Crowe

Emma Theo Nora Nylander Crowe, 97, died July 11, 2016, at her home in Missoula surrounded by loving family.

Emma was born March 27, 1919, to Esther and Herman Nylander at their farm near Graceville, Minnesota, about 125 miles from the dugout home where "Little House on the Prairie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived when she was a girl. The stories Emma told of her own childhood could have formed the basis for a similar book series.

The granddaughter of Swedish immigrants who lived on adjoining farms, Emma spoke Swedish as a first language. She learned English in the nearby one-room schoolhouse, where she later taught as a young woman. In later years, Emma often shared vivid recollections of life on the farm, including winter trips to church on a horse-drawn sleigh, watching boatloads of wheat heading to Minnesota flour mills, and cutting off the tail of a scampering muskrat while ice skating on a pond.

Emma’s lifelong devotion to reading began at an early age, thanks to regular trips to a nearby library, which she regarded with a sense of awe. Minnesota was also where she developed her passion for the outdoors, which led her to acquire vast stores of knowledge about natural sciences even as she became a master gardener and a fine nature photographer who captured stunning vistas, vibrant wildflowers and fascinating rock formations with her lens.

She was at her happiest when her hands were deep in the soil, weeding and planting. Once, after gardening for eight straight hours, she responded to an entreaty to take a break with a signature line: “If I can't dig, I don’t want to be here.”

In the 1930s, Emma earned a teaching certificate from Bemidji State University in Minnesota, then returned home to teach in a one-room schoolhouse, to which she drove in her Model T Ford.

In 1941, she married Vincent Johnson, who soon was drafted into the Army. They had one son, Vincent Stephen "Steve." Vince only held Steve once, as he was running for the train to leave for active duty when his son was 6 months old.

While Vince completed basic training in California, Emma lived in Santa Monica, California, where she worked as a Rosie the Riveter, polishing crystals for radio sets at a defense plant. Soon after, Vince left for the European theater, where he was killed at Normandy.

Returning to Minnesota at war’s end, Emma trained as a medical technician in Minneapolis. She and a friend from school were recruited for jobs at Montana’s public psychiatric hospital in Warm Springs. Emma traveled by train with young Steve to Montana, where she grew so homesick her brother, Fred, a Marine, came to stay with her. That visit changed the course of her life.

One evening Fred, wearing his Marine uniform, took Emma out for dinner. Calvin J. Crowe, also a Marine in uniform, approached their table, ostensibly to introduce himself to a fellow service member. But as Cal was fond of recounting, he really had his eye on “that pretty redhead,” and was relieved to discover Fred was her brother.

After a whirlwind courtship, Cal and Emma were married in Dillon three weeks later. Cal soon got a job at Daly Bank in Anaconda, where they settled down to raise a family of five children.

Emma had a keen sense of fashion and style, decorating their home with mid-century modern furniture, and was known for hosting wonderful holiday celebrations. She was accomplished in all forms of sewing and needlework. She also loved to drive on the open road. One of her favorite stories recounted the time she drove the family Mercury well over 100 mph on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

She had a passion for teaching, whether it was in a schoolhouse, Lutheran Sunday school or impromptu sessions with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to discuss geologic formations, sea shells, dinosaurs, Vikings, the Plains Indians and much more.

She instilled a love of learning and sense of curiosity in multiple generations. She also befriended strangers everywhere she went, learning more about their lives during five minutes in a supermarket checkout line than a news reporter could have uncovered during a lengthy interview.

In addition to avidly reading nonfiction of all types, Emma took university courses wherever she lived, on subjects ranging from natural science to creative writing. When she enrolled in a course taught by "Roadside Geology" series author David Alt at the University of Montana several years ago, she received a call from the registrar’s office. “We must have your birth year wrong, we have 1919,” the puzzled staffer said. When told the year was correct, the employee laughed and responded, “You are officially our oldest co-ed!”

When she was not taking a course, reading a book, digging in the dirt, exploring nature or keeping her house meticulously clean, Emma was always up for a challenging crossword puzzle or game of Scrabble. She was a good-humored Scrabble player, but she showed opponents no mercy. She also wrote wonderful autobiographical stories. One, "Dust Storm Years," won a Missoula Public Library writing contest.

Through more than five decades of marriage, Emma supported Cal in his banking career as it took them to Minnesota, South Dakota, Missoula and finally Thompson Falls, where he died of lung cancer in 2001 after retiring as vice president of a bank there. Soon after, Emma moved to a new home in Missoula. She spent the last several years in her daughter’s home, with frequent visits to all surviving members of her close-knit extended family.

Emma is survived by her brother, Fred (Bernice) of Moorhead, Minnesota; daughter, Leslie McClintock (Michael) of Missoula; son, Van (Kathy), of Great Falls; son, Calvin J, Crowe Jr. (Denise) of Florence, Oregon; grandchildren, Frank Sennett, Amy Starner (Steve), Christopher Crowe, Ryan Crowe (Angie) and Thomas McClintock (Marissa); and great-grandchildren, Taylor Crowe, Nicholas and Emma Sennett, Ben and Jake Starner, Ali Philpott and Cutter Crowe.

Emma was preceded in death by parents, Esther and Herman Nylander; husbands, Vincent Johnson and Calvin J. Crowe; siblings, Miriam, Vinard, Genevieve and Le Moyne; and sons, Vincent Stephen and Theodore Eugene Crowe.

A memorial service will be held at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Bonner on Thursday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m., reception following.

Emma's family asks that memorials be sent to Our Savior's Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 1005, Bonner, MT 59823, Pastor Eric Huseth, pastor@oursaviorsbonner.org; The Learning Center at Red Willow, 825 W. Kent Ave., Missoula, MT 59801; Kathy Mangan, executive director, info@redwillowlearning.org; or the Muscular Dystrophy Association, mda.org/get-involved/participate-in-an-event. At the bottom of the home page, there is a donate button, which includes a tab for memorials.