Eleanor LaForge Crum

Eleanor Marie LaForge Crum was born on September 17, 1923, the second of five siblings, on a farm in Central Illinois near the town of New Holland. At the age of 11, she began studying piano with her mother, Bertha Straub LaForge. By the time she applied to college, she knew she wanted to study music and followed her older sister, Margaret Rose, to Champagne/Urbana to study at The School of Music at The University of Illinois.

Eleanor began her studies in Piano and Music Education in 1940. She practiced classical repertoire five hours a day. During wartime, Eleanor volunteered at the U.S.O., playing popular songs for the service men and women. It was in college that she met William Crum, an engineering student, who treated her to a Cherry Coke every Friday night until he was drafted. Eleanor excelled in her studies and was invited to join Sigma Alpha Iota, an honorary music fraternity. Upon graduation, she taught in the high school music programs in Bridgeport and Cessna Park, Illinois, directing choirs and orchestras and symphonic and marching bands.

With the end of WWII, Bill Crum, who was stationed in Oak Ridge, TN and had visited Eleanor in Illinois whenever he could get a weekend pass, proposed marriage. Eleanor accepted but continued to teach while Bill began his first job in Mexico, MO. They were married in 1948.

Many transfers and two children followed, but Eleanor never stopped playing the piano, primarily as an accompanist for choirs, vocalists and instrumentalists. She also studied organ and became the organist of her churches in Houston, TX, Birmingham, MI, and (briefly) in Hendersonville, NC. She was asked to join P.E.O. in 1965 and was an active member for many years. When asked to found a new P.E.O. Chapter (BN) in Hendersonville, NC, she did so with energy and a life-long interest in tackling new projects. She was a Girl Scout Leader, a volunteer in the Children’s Cancer Ward at M.D. Anderson Hospital, an excellent bridge player, and a good neighbor.

In 2005, Eleanor and Bill moved to Givens Estates, where Eleanor continued playing piano, first as a Chapel pianist on Sundays, next with the Red Hots (a trio of piano, bass, and clarinet) and most recently, as a dinner music provider on Friday nights. She played her final concert, attended by her granddaughter, Ryan, on Friday, January 17th. Eleanor died on January 27th, 2025, after a brief illness. She was 101 years and 4 months old.

Eleanor is survived by a brother, Wayne LaForge, a daughter, Jane Ann, a son, Robert Jeffrey, his wife, Gabrielle, a grandson, Thomas Denton, his wife Vanessa Soto, and a granddaughter, Ryan Crum, and her husband, James Duysen.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 2 p.m. in the Givens Estates Chapel. The Reverends Kelli Mullinix, Brenda K. Lewis, and Kathryn Cameron will preside.

Groce Funeral Home’s Lake Julian team is assisting the family.