Patti Crow, a Pullman resident and former Seattle school teacher, passed away Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, from complications of a brain tumor that she had been battling valiantly for the past five years.
A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 29 in the chapel of the Corbeill Funeral Home, 905 S. Grand Ave., Pullman.
Patti was born May 15, 1970, in Vancouver, Wash., and was adopted at 1 month old by James and Norma Rider Crow. She grew up in Pullman and attended school here. Patti loved music and was an extremely gifted singer. She was a member of several special jazz combo groups and sang whenever she got the chance.
She graduated from Pullman High School with the class of 1989. Patti attended the University of Idaho in Moscow where she majored in general studies and minored in music and education. Following her graduation from the U of I in 1996, she enlisted in the Peace Corps and served two years in West Africa in Cote d’Ivoire. She specialized in teaching English as a second language.
Patti came back from the Peace Corps to Seattle and began work for Community Action, where she undertook many special projects. She moved to Japan and taught English for a year; spent three years as a house mother (actually living in the school) for the indigenous people near the Yukon Territory in Alaska teaching English and music; and finally moved back to Seattle and began her career with the Seattle School District as a special education instructor for the junior high grades. She was a member of several choirs and musical groups in the city.
Patti has been fighting her battle with brain cancer since 2017. She retired in August after more than 15 years with the district and moved back to Pullman to be closer to her mom and brother.
She leaves behind many friends and co-workers whom she dearly loved and will be missed most especially by her mother, Norma Lee Crow, of Pullman; by her brother Michael James Crow, also of Pullman; and by her uncle Frank Rider, two nephews, a great-nephew, and two cousins. She was preceded in death by her father, James Crow, in 1999.
Corbeill Funeral Home of Pullman is in charge of arrangements and the online guest book is available at corbeillfuneralhomes.com.
