Rose Marie (Reynolds) Crannell

Rose Marie (Reynolds) Crannell: December 11th, 1929 - March 4th, 2026.

Rose Marie was born in Des Moines, and grew up on a farm near Mitchellville, Iowa, attending a one room schoolhouse until 8th grade. She graduated from Mitchellville and attended William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa. At a picnic during her freshman year, she was chased by a guy who was sure she had squirted mustard on his back. Although she was innocent, she ended up marrying that guy, Donald E. Crannell, in March 1950 in Ivy, Iowa. They remained married for over 71 years.

They eventually moved to Chicago where Daniel and Sylvia were born. Their third child James was born in Delavan, Illinois where Don was serving the Presbyterian Church. In 1961 they relocated their family to Minneapolis, where they found a school for their oldest son Dan, who was left developmentally disabled after a bout with measles encephalitis. Their youngest, Crystal, was born in Minneapolis.

After her children were all in school, Rose resumed her education. In 1971, she graduated from the University of MN with a BA in Social Work. Rose and Don were members of a group that founded the Adler Graduate School of Minnesota. They were also instrumental in helping to start and run psychodramas and family education centers.

Rose worked as a social worker for Freeborn County after moving to Albert Lea in 1974. They took square dance lessons, leading to a passion that they engaged in until 2019, when Rose was nearly 90!

In 1981 wanderlust struck in earnest. Rose and Don, moved to Queensland, Australia for two years. They returned to Minnesota in 1983, and Rose returned to her social work career, working briefly in St. Cloud and Minneapolis and then Ramsey County, retiring in 1995.

After retirement they decided to visit the capitals of all 50 US states. They returned to Australia to visit and explored New Zealand. In 1995 they were part of a delegation of the St. Paul-Nagasaki Sister City Committee, spending a week in Japan demonstrating the American tradition of square dancing.

Rose lived a very long and full life. She adored her five grandchildren and taking part in family activities. She enjoyed being a part of The Red Hatters Club. Politics and human rights were always of particular importance to her, especially women’s rights.

Rose is survived by three of her children: Sylvia (Ron Lawrenz), Jamie (Diane), and Crystal (Ward Moberg), and five grandchildren, Marissa (John) Crannell-Ash, Nini Crannell, Sage Crannell (Andrew Trenne), Keegan and Katrina Moberg, and great-grandson Rowan Crannell-Ash.

 Preceded in death by her parents Ethel and Glenn, her brother Terry, her beloved husband Donald, and son Daniel Crannell.

A memorial service will be on Friday, March 27 at 1:00 at Unity Church-Unitarian, 733 Portland Ave, St. Paul. It will also be live-streamed (https://bit.ly/rcrannellmem).

In lieu of flowers, organizations close to Rose’s heart are NOW (National Organization of Women) and the ACLU (American Civil Liberty Union). Links are down below.